Background: Spindle cell carcinoma (SpCC) is a rare tumor type with poor prognosis, and standard treatment modalities are not available yet. However, large-scale studies on this topic are sparse. In this study, data from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) database were used to determine cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates of SpCC and to investigate the impact of different therapeutic strategies including surgery with or without chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or chemoradiotherapy on patient outcome.
Methods: A total of 665 cases of SpCC, diagnosed from 1996 to 2015, were extracted from the SEER database. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank tests were used to assess CSS rates and differences on survival curves. Multiple COX-proportional hazards models were used to analyze the association between various treatments and prognosis of SpCC patients classified by organs or systems.
Results: Different treatments for SpCC in different organ or system were associated with prognosis of SpCC patients. Surgery alone exhibits survival benefit, whereas adjuvant therapy fails to show survival benefit for patients with SpCC.
Conclusions: The prognosis of SpCC patients varied significantly with different clinical treatments. Adjuvant radiotherapy or chemotherapy did not show survival benefit, even increasing the risk of mortality for SpCC patients.
Keywords: Adjuvant therapy; spindle cell carcinoma; surgery; surveillance epidemiology and end results; survival analysis; treatment modalities.