Radical surgery in stage I carcinoma of the corpus uteri

Thirty-four patients with stage I adenocarcinoma of the corpus uteri were selected for radical hysterectomy combined with bilateral transperitoneal pelvic lymphadenectomy and followed 8 to 15 years. Metastases to the pelvic lymph nodes were diagnosed in 18%. Invasion of tumour in lymph or blood vessels was found in 17 patients, and five of these patients had lymph node metastases whereas this was true in only one out of 17 patients without demonstrable vessel invasion. The 5-year crude survival was 80% with 15% urinary tract complications.