Primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube.

The records of 50 patients with primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube referred to postoperative radiotherapy at the Radium Centre of the Finsen Institute, Copenhagen, were reviewed. The most common symptoms were postmenopausal bleeding, vaginal watery discharge and abdominal pain. In 86% of the patients a palpable pelvic tumor was found at preoperative gynecologic examination. Disease was localized to the pelvis (stage I and stage II) in nearly all patients (92%). Ten patients were given radiotherapy as vaginal radium twice combined with deep X-ray to the pelvis, and 38 patients were given radiotherapy as high-voltage irradiation to the pelvis only. The overall survival at 5 years was 50.9%. Still, the role of radiotherapy in the control of this rare disease remains to be established. To obtain a better prognosis for this disease, international cooperative prospective studies are proposed.