Cervical carcinoma recurring in an abdominal wall incision

Incisional recurrence of carcinoma of the uterine cervix is very rare. We report two patients who developed recurrence in the abdominal wall incision after hysterectomy. The first patient was aged 60 years and had a FIGO Stage IB1 cervical carcinoma treated initially by Wertheim's hysterectomy and postoperative radiotherapy. Nine months after surgery she developed recurrence on the abdominal scar, which was outside the radiation portal. She was treated with electron beam radiation therapy. The second patient developed an incisional recurrence 23 months after surgery and was treated by wide excision of the mass followed by radiotherapy. A survey of the literature identified 12 reported cases to date (eight squamous cell carcinoma and four adenocarcinoma).