The prognostic factors influencing overall survival in uterine cervical cancer with brain metastasis

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The occurrence of brain metastasis (BM) has increased due to improved overall survival (OS) in uterine cervical cancer. However, research about prognostic factors and therapeutic guidelines for BM in uterine cervical cancer remains scarce due to the rarity of BM in this type of cancer. The present study evaluated the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors influencing OS in patients with BM from uterine cervical cancer. METHODS: A total of 19 BM patients of uterine cervical cancer were analyzed retrospectively from January 1995 to December 2016. RESULTS: The median and mean OS of all patients was 9.6 and 15.4 months. Treatment (vs. palliative care, p < 0.001), fewer than three regimens of chemotherapy before BM (vs. ≥ 3, p < 0.013), and chemotherapy after BM (vs. absence, p < 0.001) significantly increased the OS time. The Karnofsky performance status ≥ 70 (vs. < 70, p = 0.213), single BM (vs. multiple BM, p = 0.157), and small cell carcinoma (vs. others, p = 0.351) had numerically higher OS than others. Dual therapy (vs. single therapy, p = 0.182; vs. no therapy, p = 0.076) were associated with a longer OS time, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. In addition, the graded prognostic assessment (GPA) appeared to be a better prognostic tool than the recursive partitioning analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study suggest active multimodal treatment including neurosurgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy for BM of uterine cervical cancer with single BM, good performance status, histology of small cell carcinoma, and a better GPA.