Cervical cancer prognosis and related risk factors for patients with cervical cancer: a long-term retrospective cohort study

This study aims to explore the recurrence rate and overall survival for patients with cervical cancer after the first treatment and the related risk factors. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on cervical cancer patients enrolled in a cancer specialist hospital in Hunan Province, China from January 1992 to December 2005 and followed up until December 2010. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to estimate the cumulative recurrence rate, and Cox proportional hazards model was utilized to identify risk factors associated with prognosis. A total of 4358 patients were enrolled with a median follow-up of 7.4 years (range 5-19 years), and 372 (8.5%) patients had cancer recurrence. The cumulative recurrence rate showed a rapid increase from 3.8% in the first year after discharge to 8.0% in the fifth year, and the recurrence rate remained relatively stable afterward reaching 9.7% and 10.8% in the 10th and the 15th year, respectively. The median time to recurrence was 15.5 months with an IQR of 5.5-40.0 months. The Cox regression showed that miscarriage, clinical stage, and treatment received were significantly associated with cervical cancer recurrence after adjustment for confounders. Patients with recurrence showed a significantly higher risk for mortality than those without recurrence (HR 2.79, 95% CI 2.42-3.22). This study depicted the long-term recurrence rate and survival after recurrence for patients with cervical cancer after the first treatment, and reported time to recurrence and risk factors related to recurrence. These findings may provide important evidence for designing targeted interventions for the treatment of cervical cancer.