PORTEC-3
Adding chemotherapy to radiation after surgery helped women with high-risk endometrial cancer, especially those whose tumours have a broken p53 gene.
5-year OS 81.4% vs 76.1% (HR 0.70) and failure-free survival 76.5% vs 69.1% in the updated analysis (Lancet Oncology 2019); the benefit was largest in stage III and serous cancers. Molecular analysis (de Boer/León-Castillo, JCO 2020) showed strong benefit in p53-abnormal tumours and none in POLE-mutated tumours, the basis for molecular-class-directed adjuvant therapy now tested in RAINBO.
- 81.4 vs 76.1 out of 100 alive at 5 years with Chemoradiation + chemotherapy compared with Radiotherapy alone; 5.3 more per 100.
- Roughly one extra person helped for every 19 treated. That is a rough figure taken from the two percentages, not a guarantee for any one person.
- Put another way, the treated group had about 30 percent lower chance of the event at any given time (hazard ratio 0.7, likely range 0.51 to 0.97).
- Overall survival counts deaths from any cause, so it is the most direct measure of whether a treatment helps people live longer.
- These results apply to the people the trial enrolled: High-risk early or stage III endometrial cancer after surgery: chemoradiation + 4 cycles chemotherapy vs pelvic radiotherapy alone. People in a different situation may not see the same effect.
Numbers are from the trial as recorded here; see the source links in the table below. This is orientation, not medical advice: ask your team how closely the trial population matches you.
660 participants enrolled.
| Endpoint | Arm | n | Value | HR (95% CI) | p | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall survival at 5 years | Chemoradiation + chemotherapy | 330 | 81.4% | 0.7 (0.51–0.97) | — | link |
| Radiotherapy alone | 330 | 76.1% |