[Adjuvant gestagen therapy in stage I endometrial cancer]

221 patients with endometrial cancer stage Ia and Ib have been operated on between 1980 and 1986. 99 patients have been irradiated postoperatively. 122 patients got 300 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate per day over one year provided that the carcinoma was limited to the uterine corpus, the invasion into the myometrium was at a maximum of 2/3 of the uterine wall, there was no invasion of the lymphatic vessels and the tumour was histologic uniform. The 5-year-survival rate of the patients operated on without irradiation but with gestagens was 98.1 per cent calculated with actuarial method in contrast to a matched group from the years 1970 to 1979 with operation and irradiation but without gestagens of 93.2 per cent. These results demonstrate that an individualized therapy in stage I is possible in patients with a low risk of recurrence.