PORTEC-3

Does adjuvant chemoradiotherapy improve outcomes compared with pelvic radiotherapy alone in high-risk endometrial cancer?

Population and treatment

660 patients with high-risk endometrial cancer after surgery.

Intervention vs comparator: Pelvic radiotherapy with concurrent cisplatin followed by carboplatin/paclitaxel vs pelvic radiotherapy alone.

Registry: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=PORTEC-3+10-year+overall+survival

Results

At 10 years, OS 74.4% with chemoradiotherapy vs 67.3% with RT alone (HR 0.73, 95% CI 0.54–0.97); recurrence-free survival 72.8% vs 67.4% (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.56–0.98). Benefits were more marked in stage III and serous cancers; late neuropathy and toxicity burden matter.

Overall survival · 10 years

NNT: NCT00411138

NNH not calculated without defensible fixed-time excess-harm risk. Never derive NNT from median survival or HR alone.

Toxicity and treatment burden

67.3

Full grade 3–5 toxicity, discontinuation, QoL and treatment exposure require primary-report/supplement extraction before full clinical signoff. Missing rates are not imputed.

Interpretation and limitations

Long-term results support chemoradiotherapy in selected high-risk groups; do not generalize subgroup effects to every stage/histology. Compare late neuropathy, QoL and treatment completion.

Distinguish prespecified from exploratory subgroups, mature from immature endpoints, and superiority from non-inferiority. Verify current guidelines and eligibility.

Primary source

Primary publication / authoritative source ↗

Source-level QoL, discontinuation, full toxicity and guideline currency audit remains a QC requirement.