Volumetric PET parameters are predictive for the prognosis of locally advanced cervical cancer.

BACKGROUND: The present study evaluates the relationship between PET/CT findings and survival in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) with a squamous cell histology. METHODS: The study included 70 patients with LACC (FIGO stage IB2-IVA). The relationship between pretreatment PET/CT parameters, age, stage, lymph node metastasis and survival was evaluated using the univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: The mean age of the 70 patients was 57.4 years and the mean duration of follow-up was 33.6 months. Disease progression occurred in 36 patients and 32 patients died during the follow-up period. In the univariate analysis, MTV-P and TLG-P were found to be related to progression-free survival (PFS), and stage, MTV-P, TLG-P and SUVmax-Ps were found to be related to overall survival (OS). However, only MTV-P and TLG-P were found to be independent prognostic factors for both PFS and OS. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that volumetric PET parameters (MTV-P, TLG-P) predict the progression and survival of the patients with LACC.

Retrospective evaluation of clinical and pathological features, as well as diagnostic and treatment protocols of primary vaginal malignancy.

OBJECTIVES: Our study aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics and diagnostic and treatment protocols of primary vaginal carcinoma. Also, we compared the clinical and pathological features of primary vaginal carcinoma which intersect with cervical and vulvar carcinomas. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixteen patients with primary vaginal carcinoma, admitted to the Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital between January 1983 and December 2012, were evaluated retrospectively. FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) Surgical staging was performed. The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) program was used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: The histological distribution of the 16 patients with primary vaginal carcinoma was as follows: 9 patients (56.3%) with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 5 (31.3%) with rhabdomyosarcoma, and 2 (12.5%) with adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSION: The stage of the disease was found the be the main factor affecting the survival.