Recurrence and survival in surgically treated endometrioid endometrial cancer

The objective of this study was to evaluate different surgical treatments and radiotherapy on patterns of recurrence and overall survival in patients with endometrioid-type endometrial cancer.

The retrospective records of 162 patients with endometrioid endometrial cancer were collected. Patients were surgically treated from 1997 to 2002. Recurrence and survival were analyzed according to patient age, surgical procedure, lymphadenectomy, externalbeam irradiation, brachytherapy, surgical stage, myometrial invasion, and tumor grade. Standard statistical calculations were used.

Median age was 64 years. Median follow-up was 44 months. Overall, ten patients (5.6%) experienced recurrence and 14 (8.6%) died. With univariate analysis, statistical significance for survival was found for age older than 70 years, tumor grade, myometrial invasion, and stage. Multivariate analysis, however, found only age, stage, and grade to be significant. With univariate analysis, statistical significance for recurrence was found for tumor grade, stage, and external-beam radiotherapy as risk factors. Multivariate analysis found only radiotherapy and brachytherapy to be significant, but in an inverted sense, with brachytherapy having a protective effect.

Our results suggest that brachytherapy protects against recurrence and that neither a surgical approach nor a lymphadenectomy appear to affect recurrence or survival in patients with surgically treated endometrioid endometrial cancer.