Primary peritoneal carcinoma--Uterine involvement and hysterectomy

To assess the frequency of uterine involvement in primary peritoneal carcinoma (PPC) and to describe selected clinical characteristics in patients with and without hysterectomy.

All incident cases of histologically confirmed cancer of the ovary or peritoneum, diagnosed in Israeli Jewish women between March 1 1994 and June 30, 1999, were identified within the framework of a nationwide epidemiological study of these neoplasms. The study population was accrued through an active search of all newly diagnosed patients in all the departments of gynecology in Israel. The data of 81 PPC patients included in the present study were abstracted from medical records.

Hysterectomy was performed in 48 patients. These patients had a lower mean age (62.4 +/- 9.4 vs. 66.9 +/- 10.4; P = 0.05) at diagnosis and a higher rate of < or =2 cm residual disease (54.2% vs.24.2%; P = 0.02). Of those with hysterectomy, microscopic involvement was verified in all those with macroscopic involvement. Overall microscopic involvement was present in 28 (58.3%) of the patients who underwent hysterectomy. In the majority of them, only the serosa was involved. Macroscopic uterine involvement was present in 27 (33.3%) patients but in only 12% it was >2 cm. The median survival in patients with hysterectomy was 36 months and in those without hysterectomy 29 months, this difference was statistically not significant (P = 0.2).

Our study indicates that in an unselected group of PPC patients 33% have any macroscopic uterine involvement. The therapeutic value of routine hysterectomy at the initial operation for PPC should be further investigated.