Simultaneous endometrioid carcinoma of the uterine corpus and ovary

The carcinoma with simultaneous involvement of the endometrium and the ovary is an uncommon but well recognized event. The determination of clinical stage depends on which of the two sites is considered to be the primary. Combined involvement may occasionally represent independent primary neoplasm. A review of all cases with a tissue diagnosis of endometrioid ovarian carcinoma and concomitant endometrial carcinoma was undertaken to identify those cases which possibly had independent primaries. Three such cases with disease confined to the pelvis were identified on the basis of pathologic features. The incidence of endometrial carcinoma in patients with endometrioid ovarian carcinoma was 15.8% (3/19). They were treated surgically with adjuvant therapy. Two patients died of disseminated carcinoma 1 and 4 years later respectively. The only one patient alive had been free of disease for 25 months after initial therapy. These endometrioid neoplasms simultaneously occurring in ovary and endometrium are considered to be primary tumors. The morphologic reasons for this view are discussed.