Influence of preoperative irradiation on failures of endometrial carcinoma with high risk of lymph node metastasis.

From 1965-1980, 80 patients with adenocarcinoma of the endometrium, FIGO-AJC Stage I, Grade 3 and Stage II received preoperative radiation therapy. Thirty-three patients had Stage I, Grade 3 and 47 had Stage II. All patients were treated with preoperative radiation therapy (intracavitary application, external pelvic irradiation or both) followed by total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. They were followed from 3-18 years (median, 6.2 years) after the completion of treatment and none was lost to follow-up. Overall 5-year actuarial disease-free survival was 75%. Preoperative external whole pelvic plus intracavitary irradiation gave the best 5-year survival of 83%; there were no failures after 20 months. In comparison to this group, survival for the intracavitary alone group was 64% at 5 years and 54% at 8 years. The 5-year survival of Stage II was 81% compared to 66% of the Stage I, Grade 3 group. Prognostic variables were analyzed and showed that the residual tumor in the specimen at the time of surgery after the preoperative irradiation was significantly correlated to a worse prognosis: patients who were found to have no residual tumor had a 5-year survival rate of 96% compared to 65% of those who were found to have residual tumor (p less than 0.01). Age, stage, methods of preoperative irradiation, dose of external pelvic irradiation or intracavitary application were not statistically significant prognostic factors. The grade of the tumor was suggestive as a prognostic variable. The most common failure site was the para-aortic lymph nodes independent of treatment methods and stage. Four patients developed complications possibly related to the radiation therapy. Our study suggests that preoperative external and intracavitary irradiation reduces the frequency of residual microscopic carcinoma and improves survival for patients with Stage I, Grade 3 and Stage II carcinoma of the endometrium.