New treatment procedure for stage I endometrial adenocarcinoma.

A series of 80 Stage I adenocarcinomas of the endometrium is described. Treatment is based on a more frequent use of surgery and there is greater individualization of the treatment procedure, which combines vaginal or uterovaginal Curie therapy and surgery. Overall 5 year survival rates are 82%, compared with 91.5% for patients having been treated with Curie therapy plus surgery. The patient's age and the size of the uterus were found to be significant from the prognostic standpoint. However, other factors, such as histological type and grade, penetration into the myometrium, and lymph node involvement did not seem especially important. Treatment described here appears to give better results than that used previously; survival rates are higher and complications of treatment are negligible.