Larson D M, Copeland L J, Gallager H S, Wharton J T, Gershenson D M, Rutledge F N
Department of Gynecology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute at Houston.
Obstet Gynecol. 1987 Dec;70(6):916-9.
The prognostic significance of residual endometrial carcinoma in the hysterectomy specimen after preoperative radiotherapy is controversial. Sixty-two patients with stage II endometrial carcinoma were treated with a standardized program of preoperative radiotherapy, followed in six weeks by an extrafascial hysterectomy. Twenty patients (32%) had no residual carcinoma in their hysterectomy specimens and 42 (68%) had residual carcinoma. There were no significant clinical, surgical, or pathologic differences between patients with or without residual carcinoma. Patients with no residual carcinoma had a 25% recurrence rate and a 53% actuarial five-year survival rate. Patients with residual carcinoma had a 21% recurrence rate and a 78% actuarial five-year survival rate. The presence of residual endometrial carcinoma in the hysterectomy specimen does not imply a compromised prognosis in patients with stage II endometrial carcinoma treated by the described method.
