Prognostic value of peritoneal cytology in patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

Peritoneal cytology was obtained in 374 patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix (stage IB-IIB) in whom gross intraperitoneal disease was absent at the time of radical hysterectomy and node dissections. The relevance of positive peritoneal cytology in relation to the cell type of the tumor was examined. An exceedingly small rate of peritoneal cytologic positivity was found in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (1.7%, 4/242). One of the four patients with positive cytology developed a lung recurrence. On the other hand, the incidence of positive peritoneal cytology in patients with adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma was 11.4% (15/132). The 3-year disease-free survival rate in patients having adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma with positive peritoneal cytology was 57.8%, while it was 80.7% in patients with negative peritoneal cytology. However, this factor was closely associated with other adverse prognostic factors. A multivariate analysis revealed that positive peritoneal cytology was not an independent prognostic factor in patients with adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma. In addition, intraperitoneal recurrence was not correlated with the presence of cancer cells in the peritoneal fluid. The series indicates that peritoneal cytology in cervical cancer is of little value in treatment planning.