Survival of patients with clinical stage III and IV cer-vical cancer undergoing nephrostomy: Descriptive study of a single center: Original Research

Abstract

Introduction: A quarter of women with gynecological neoplasms present with obstruction in the urinary tract, secondary to tumor infiltration or extrinsic compression of the ureters. Nephrostomy is an interventional clinical alternative to improve obstructive nephropathy and avoid dialysis treatment in a cancer patient with hydronephrosis. The objective of this study was to determine the survival of patients with cervical cancer who underwent nephrostomy.

Methodology: The present observational study was carried out at Solón Espinosa Ayala Hospital "Solca-Núcleo de Quito" from January 2014 to December 2018. The sample calculation was nonprobabilistic. Cases of patients with cervical cancer who underwent nephrostomy were included. The variables were age, overall survival, survival with nephrostomy, histological type of cervical neo-plasia, stage, oncological treatment after nephrostomy, complications, and response to treatment. For the analysis, the Kaplan–Meier method was used. Survival was analyzed according to ECOG func-tional stages.

Results: Ninety-six cases were included in the study. The median survival after nephrostomy place-ment was 277 days (9.2 months), and the median overall survival was 462 days (15 months). Pa-tients with ECOG-0 had an overall survival of 625 days (20.8 months); those with ECOG 1, 2, and 3 had an overall survival of 437 days (14.5 months) (P= 0.013).

Conclusion: In this study, patients with cervical cancer who had locally advanced and metastatic disease with ECOG 0 benefited the most from the nephrostomy procedure with improved survival. Patients with locally advanced and metastatic disease with ECOG scores of 2 and 3 did not improve their overall survival with nephrostomy placement. Fifty percent of them progressed despite receiv-ing cancer treatment, but they avoided admission to dialysis programs. The main complication after placement of the nephrostomy catheter was an infection.