Prognostic value of hemoglobin levels prior to radiotherapy for cervical cancer--Kuwait experience.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate hemoglobin (Hb) levels before and during radiotherapy and its role as prognostic factor on treatment results of patients treated for cancer cervix.


METHODS
One hundred and seven patients with cervical cancer were registered and managed at KCCC during 1995 - 1999. The pre-treatment and mid treatment Hb levels were found for 47 patients only. Follow-up was done for these cases aiming at evaluation the overall and disease-free survival. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS statistical package version 10.0.


RESULTS
The median age of patients were 45 and ranged between 26-80 years. Kuwaiti patients represented 21.3% of cases. The most common stage was Stage IIb representing 51.1% followed by IIIb representing 27.7%. Stage Ib and IIa represented 12.8%. About 89.4% were squamous cell carcinoma, while adenocarcinoma was 6.4%. Treatment outcome revealed 18 relapses (38.3%). Disease-free survival for cases with pre-treatment Hb level < 12 was 16.3%, while for those with Hb level > or = 12 g/dL it was 62.9%. The difference was statistically significant (P = 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with pre-treatment Hb < 12 g/dL had a significantly lower disease-free survival.
Abuzallouf
S
S
Radiation Oncology Department, Kuwait Cancer Control Center, Ministry of Health, Kuwait. zlouf@hotmail.com
Vasishta
S
S
Ragheb
A
A
Varghese
A
A
El-Hattab
O
O
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*
D006454:Hemoglobins