Clinicopathologic features, treatment, prognosis and prognostic factors of neuroendocrine carcinoma of the endometrium: a retrospective analysis of 42 cases from the Kansai Clinical Oncology Group/Intergroup study in Japan / 부인종양

OBJECTIVE: We conducted a retrospective, multi-institutional, collaborative study to accumulate cases of neuroendocrine carcinoma of the endometrium, to clarify its clinicopathologic features, treatment, prognosis and prognostic factors to collate findings to establish future individualized treatment regimens. To our knowledge, this is the largest case study and the first study to statistically analyze the prognosis of this disease. METHODS: At medical institutions participating in the Kansai Clinical Oncology Group/Intergroup, cases diagnosed at a central pathologic review as neuroendocrine carcinoma of the endometrium between 1995 and 2014 were enrolled. We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathologic features, treatment, prognosis and prognostic factors of this disease. RESULTS: A total of 65 cases were registered from 18 medical institutions in Japan. Of these, 42 (64.6%) cases were diagnosed as neuroendocrine carcinoma of the endometrium based on the central pathological review and thus included in the study. Advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages (stage III and IV) and pure type small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma cases had a significantly worse prognosis. Upon multivariate analysis, only histologic subtypes and surgery were significant prognostic factors. Pure type cases had a significantly worse prognosis compared to mixed type cases and complete surgery cases had a significantly better prognosis compared to cases with no or incomplete surgery. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that complete surgery improves the prognosis of neuroendocrine carcinoma of the endometrium. Even among cases with advanced disease stages, if complete surgery is expected to be achieved, clinicians should consider curative surgery to improve the prognosis of neuroendocrine carcinoma of the endometrium.

Efficacy of palonosetron plus dexamethasone in preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea and emesis in patients receiving carboplatin-based chemotherapy for gynecologic cancers: a phase II study by the West Japan Gynecologic Oncology Group (WJGOG 131) / 부인종양

OBJECTIVE: Palonosetron is effective for the management of acute and delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). While emetogenic carboplatin-based chemotherapy is widely used to treat gynecologic cancers, few studies have evaluated the antiemetic effectiveness of palonosetron in this setting. METHODS: A multicenter, single-arm, open-label phase II trial was conducted to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of palonosetron in controlling CINV in patients with gynecologic cancer. Chemotherapy-naïve patients received intravenous palonosetron (0.75 mg/body) and dexamethasone before the infusion of carboplatin-based chemotherapy on day 1. Dexamethasone was administered (orally or intravenously) on days 2–3. The incidence and severity of CINV were evaluated using the patient-completed Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer Antiemesis Tool and treatment diaries. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients experiencing complete control (CC) of vomiting, with “no rescue antiemetic medication” and “no clinically significant nausea” or “only mild nausea” in the delayed phase (24–120 hours post-chemotherapy). Secondary endpoints were the proportion of patients with a complete response (CR: “no vomiting” and “no rescue antiemetic medication”) in the acute (0–24 hours), delayed (24–120 hours), and overall (0–120 hours) phases, and CC in the acute and overall phases. RESULTS: Efficacy was assessable in 77 of 80 patients recruited. In the acute and delayed phases, the CR rates the primary endpoint, were 71.4% and 59.7% and the CC rates, the secondary endpoint, were 97.4% and 96.1%, respectively. CONCLUSION: While palonosetron effectively controls acute CINV, additional antiemetic management is warranted in the delayed phase after carboplatin-based chemotherapy in gynecologic cancer patients (Trial registry at UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, UMIN000012806).