Objectives: To determine the association of race with incidence, histology, treatment, and survival in women with uterine sarcoma during the period 1989-1999.
Methods: Uterine sarcomas were defined as leiomyosarcoma, carcinosarcoma, high-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (HGESS), adenosarcoma, and sarcoma not otherwise specified (NOS). We used cases from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program to compare uterine sarcoma among women >35 years of age. Using data from 1989 to 1999, we compared race-specific age-adjusted incidences, histological distributions, extent of disease at diagnosis, and race-specific survival.
Results: During the period of 1989-1999, 2677 women were diagnosed with uterine sarcoma, 2098 (78%) of whom were white and 420 (16%) of whom were black, and 159 (6%) of whom were of other races. The overall age-adjusted incidence for blacks was twice that of whites and more than twice that of women of other races (7/10(5) vs. 3.6/10(5) vs. 2.7/10(5), P < 0.0001). Racial differences in the incidence of uterine sarcoma existed for leiomyosarcoma (1.51/10(5) for blacks vs. 0.91/10(5) for whites, and 0.89 for women of other races, P < 0.01) and carcinosarcoma (4.3/10(5) for blacks, vs. 1.7/10(5) for whites, and 0.99 for women of other races, P < 0.001), but not for other histological types. Blacks with stage II disease were less likely to receive radiation in addition to surgery compared to whites (33% vs. 54%, P < 0.05). Five-year relative survival of patients with disease beyond the uterus was significantly longer for those that received radiation and surgery compared to those that received surgery alone. There were no racial differences in survival for women that received similar therapy.
Conclusions: Adjuvant therapy improved survival for women with stage II-IV disease. Survival of black and white patients who received comparable treatment was similar.