Larson D M, Copeland L J, Gallager H S, Kong J P, Wharton J T, Stringer C A
Department of Gynecology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute at Houston.
Cancer. 1988 Apr 15;61(8):1528-34. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19880415)61:8<1528::aid-cncr2820610808>3.0.co;2-9.
Since one third of the patients with Stage II endometrial carcinoma have occult extrauterine pelvic metastases at diagnosis, adequate treatment must include the pelvic lymph nodes and parametria. Eighty-three patients with Stage II endometrial carcinoma were treated between January 1964 and December 1983. Sixty-nine patients (83%) received combined whole-pelvic irradiation and surgery, five (6%) had surgery alone and nine (11%) had radiotherapy alone. Five-year actuarial survival rates were 67%, 60%, and 38%, respectively. No pelvic recurrence occurred in the 69 patients who received the combined therapy, and there was no vaginal recurrence in the 80 patients treated with intracavity radium. There was a significantly lower incidence of pelvic lymph node metastases (P = 0.03) in patients treated with preoperative irradiation. The median time to recurrence was 17 months, with 67% of the recurrences diagnosed before 2 years, and 88% within 5 years. Ten patients (12%) incurred severe complications and three died as a result. Whole-pelvic irradiation, intracavity radium, and hysterectomy are effective treatment for occult pelvic and vaginal disease.
