Adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix: Lack of evidence for a poor prognosis

P. W. Grigsby, C. A. Perez, R. R. Kuske, H. M. Camel, M. S. Kao, A. E. Galakatos, M. A. Hederman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

80 Scopus citations

Abstract

A retrospective analysis was performed to evaluate the prognostic significance of histologic type (epidermoid carcinoma versus adenocarcinoma) on local control of disease and on the development of distant metastatic disease in 1239 patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervic treated with radiation therapy alone or surgery and irradiation at the Radiation Oncology Center, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), Washington University Medical Center, between 1959 and 1982. The 5-year disease-free survival (all stages combined) was 68.0% for 925 patients with epidermoid carcinoma compared to 64.9% for 79 patients with adenocarcinoma treated with irradiation alone (p = 0.34). There was no significant difference in the survival rate when epidermoid carcinoma and adenocarcinoma were compared after stratification by clinical stage except for stage III. The 5-years disease-free survival (all stages combined) was 73.4% for 213 patients with epidermoid carcinoma and 77.0% for 22 patients with adenocarcinoma treated with irradiation plus surgery (p = 0.74). Prognostic variables analyzed by multivariate analysis included age at diagnosis, histology, size of lesion, endometrial extension, lymph node status (as evaluated by lymphangiogram), dose to point A, and surgery. Prognostic variables that were significant (p < 0.05) for the development of recurrent disease in the pelvis were size of the primary lesion and dose of irradiation to point A. Significant (p < 0.05) factors for the development of distant metastatic disease were size of the primary lesion and metastatic lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis. These data indicate that adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix does not confer a worse prognosis than does epidermoid carcinoma when all other factors are equal. Those factors most significant for survival are size of the primary lesion, dose at point A, and the presence of positive lymph nodes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)289-296
Number of pages8
JournalRadiotherapy and Oncology
Volume12
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1988

Keywords

  • Adenocarcinoma
  • Cervix
  • Irradiation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix: Lack of evidence for a poor prognosis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this