Primary carcinoma of fallopian tube: experience of six cases

Between 1980 and 1993, six cases of primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube were diagnosed and treated at the Hospital of Rovigo. Median age was 64.6 years; the most frequent symptom was atypical vaginal bleeding; only one patient presented a history compatible with hydrops tubae profluens. No patient in this series had a correct preoperative diagnosis. In Papanicolau smears and endometrial currettage, one case was positive for cancer. Primary surgical treatment was performed in all cases, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. Histologic differentiation was Grade 2 in three patients and Grade 3 in three patients. Staging was by a system analogous to the FIGO classification for ovarian carcinoma. Two patients had Stage I disease; one, Stage II; two, Stage III; and one, Stage IV. Two patients died 14 and 37 months after the initial diagnosis. Three patients without clinical evidence of disease underwent second look procedures; the patients were alive and disease free with follow up ranging from 45 to 55 months. One patient is alive 4 months after surgery. In this series survival was not associated with grade, but was dependent upon stage. In our study, the prognostic value of the second- and third-look procedures are discussed.