An analysis of cell type in patients with surgically staged stage IB carcinoma of the cervix: A Gynecologic Oncology Group Study

The influence of cell type on recurrence-free interval (RFI) and survival after radical hysterectomy for patients with Stage IB carcinoma of the cervix was investigated. Patients with Stage IB carcinoma of the cervix (>3-mm invasion) underwent a radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Patients with involved paraaortic nodes or gross extracervical disease were excluded. Of 813 evaluable patients, 645 had squamous, 104 with adenocarcinoma, and 64 had adenosquamous cell type. The time to failure and the following clinical/pathologic characteristics were compared among the three cell types: age, Gynecologic Oncology Group performance status (PS), gross versus occult tumor, histologic grade, depth of invasion, node status, uterine extension, parametrial extension, surgical margins, and capillary-lymphatic space (CLS) involvement. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare the patients with adenosquamous and adenocarcinoma to those with squamous while adjusting for prognostic factors. The median age was 40 years (range, 21-87). Pelvic nodes were involved in 119 (15%) of patients. There were no significant differences between cell types in distributions of the following factors: age, PS, positive nodes, depth of invasion, uterine extension, surgical margins, or parametrial extension. There were statistically significant differences between cell types with regards to grade (P <0.001), gross versus occult primary status (P=0.016), and CLS involvement (P=0.005). There was no statistically significant difference detected between cell types in crude comparisons of RFI (P=0.29); however, there was a difference in survival (P=0.02) with shorter survival seen in the adenosquamous cell type. After adjusting for CLS involvement, PS, depth of invasion, and clinical tumor size, survival remained worse for patients with adenosquamous primaries when compared to squamous carcinoma (P=0.02) and adenocarcinoma (P=0.007). In conclusion, no statistically significant differences were seen in RFI among cell types; however, in patients with Stage I carcinoma of the cervix overall survival after radical hysterectomy may be slightly worse for those with adenosquamous cell type. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.