Adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix

From January 1, 1947, through December 31, 1971, 219 patients with primary adenocarcinoma of the intact uterine cervix were treated at the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute. Two modes of therapy were primarily used, namely, irradiation therapy alone and irradiation therapy plus operation. The 5 year survival results are 83.7 percent for patients with Stage I disease, 48.0 percent for patients with Stage II disease, 28.2 percent for patients with Stage III disease, and 0.0 percent for patients with Stage IV disease. The group with irradiation plus operation had a better over all survival rate. In addition, the incidence of central and pelvic recurrent disease was remarkably lower (fourfold difference). The urologic and bowel complications are discussed. This review lends support for our practice of preoperative irradiation followed by simple (conservative) hysterectomy for selected patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix.