Clinical features and Prognostic Factors of Patients with Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors

Abstract Background Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) are associated with poor prognosis, and their treatment remains a challenge. However, research on PNET patients is relatively limited. Therefore, we aim to investigate the prognosis of this specific cohort and identify independent prognostic factors. Methods This study screened a cohort of PNET patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database of the National Cancer Institute from 2000 to 2020. Prognostic analyses were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results A total of 941 eligible PNET patients were included, with the most common site of occurrence being the brain (57.07%). The 5-year overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates for the entire study population were 51.1% and 54.2%, respectively, while the 10-year OS and CSS were 44.7% and 48.7%, respectively. In the univariate analysis, age, marital status, tumor stage, surgery, and chemotherapy had significant impacts on patient survival outcomes. In the multivariate analysis, age and the presence of metastasis at initial staging were identified as independent poor prognostic factors for both OS and CSS, while surgery and chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors for OS, with surgery also being an independent prognostic factor for CSS. Conclusion Surgery combined with chemotherapy showed survival benefits for PNET patients and is recommended. Radiotherapy did not improve patient survival, which requires further investigation in future studies.