Cervical cancer in young women: a poorer prognosis?
OBJECTIVE
The existence of an aggressive form of cervical carcinoma affecting young women is studied by survival analysis of a large patient population.


METHODS
Between 1969 and 1986, 1577 cases of cervical cancer were treated according to well-defined policies at the University Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Debrecen, Hungary. Patients' records were reviewed to obtain data for survival analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were generated for each stage and stratified for age. The log-rank test was used to compare the survival of younger and older patients at each stage. Multivariate analysis was performed to control for stage and treatment type when 5-year survival trends across four different age groups were examined.


RESULTS
Comparison of survival of patients under 35 and over 35 years of age, and also those under 40 and over 40 years of age revealed no significant differences. Five-year survival across the < 30, 30-39, 40-49 and > or = 50 years age groups showed no significant trend. No differences in survival were revealed when the comparison was controlled for stage of disease and treatment type.


CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that cervical carcinoma in young women is not more aggressive than in other age groups.
Póká
R
R
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical School of Debrecen, Hungary.
Juhász
B
B
Lampé
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*