Background: Hemangiopericytomas (HPCs) are rare tumors in the central nervous system (CNS) and in extra-CNS sites. The authors of this report used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program to study prognostic factors in patients with HPC.
Methods: The SEER database was analyzed for patients who were diagnosed with HPC tumors from 1973 to 2007. Patients were stratified into CNS and extra-CNS groups. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed for the overall survival (OS) endpoint using major demographic factors (age, race, and sex) and disease factors (tumor site).
Results: In total, 655 patients with HPC were stratified into a CNS group (n = 199) and an extra-CNS group (n = 456). The patients with extra-CNS HPC were statistically older (mean age, 53 years vs 49 years; P = .008) and were more likely to have larger tumors (median greatest dimension, 7.0 cm vs 5.2 cm; P < .001). Patients who had CNS tumors had better OS and cause-specific survival (CSS) compared with patients who had extra-CNS tumors (P < .001 for both). Negative predictors of OS on multivariate analysis included extra-CNS tumor site (hazard ratio [HR], 1.6; P = .005) and older age (ages 40-59 years: HR, 2.08; P = .032; ages 60-79 years: HR, 3.9; P < .001; aged ≥80 years: HR, 7.7; P < .001).
Conclusions: The current analysis demonstrated that patients with extra-CNS HPCs had worse OS and CSS than patients with CNS HPCs.
Copyright © 2012 American Cancer Society.