The role of multimodal adjuvant therapy for FIGO I-II carcinosarcoma of the uterus: a systematic review

The uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS) is a rare entity with poor prognosis. Treatment of FIGO I-II UCS usually consists of surgery with or without adjuvant treatment. Due to the high metastatic potential, aggressive combined modality adjuvant treatment approaches, consisting of chemo- and radiotherapy, have been of interest. Our systematic review aims to compare survival, disease control and toxicity profiles in patients receiving adjuvant chemoradiation to other adjuvant strategies (e.g.observation, chemotherapy or radiotherapy). A total of ten studies were included for a combined cohort size of 6520 patients. Generally, the studies showed a trend towards improved disease control and survival in patients undergoing adjuvant multimodal treatment, although statistical significance was often not reached. Selection bias and non-randomized treatment allocation pose serious challenges to extrapolate these outcomes to clinical practice. We recommend additional prospective research on the role of adjuvant chemoradiation in FIGO I-II UCS. [Display omitted] •Uterine carcinosarcomas are an aggressive entity, with high metastatic potential.•Aggressive treatment with adjuvant chemoradiation in FIGO I-II UCS may be useful.•Current data is of limited quality, hindering extrapolation into daily practice.•Further research regarding adjuvant chemoradiation in FIGO I-II UCS is warranted.