Influence of age on treatment and prognosis of invasive cervical cancer

Abstract

Objective: Invasive cervical cancer is considered a young women's disease, however up to 20 % of cases develop cervical cancer at advanced ages. The aim was to characterize invasive cervical cancer in women aged 65 and older assessing age-specific survival differences.

Study design: A retrospective study including cervical cancer patients was conducted at Hospital del Mar Barcelona from July-2007 to December-2016. Women were stratified: <65 or ≥65years. Clinical and pathological data were collected. Multivariate analysis was used to compare outcomes. Adjusted hazard ratios with 95 % confidence intervals for disease-free survival, and overall survival were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models.

Results: 124 patients with invasive cervical cancer (n = 87 < 65years and n = 37 ≥ 65years) were included. At diagnosis, 48.3 % of <65years patients were diagnosed at advanced stages, while 64.9 % in ≥65years (p = 0.018). Standard treatment was given to 83.9 % of patients in <65years group compared to 62.2 % in ≥65years (p = 0.015). Disease-free survival and overall survival showed no significant differences between groups. Age ≥65 did not predict worse disease-free survival (HR: 0.3 95 %CI, 0.04-3.1, p = 0.347) or overall survival (HR: 0.82 95 %CI, 0.3-2.3, p = 0.729).

Conclusion: Invasive cervical cancer was diagnosed at advanced stages and was treated less frequently with radical intention in patients ≥65years; overall survival and disease-free survival were similar to those cervical cancer diagnosed at younger ages.

Keywords: Age-specific survival; Elderly; Invasive cervical cancer.