Invasive adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix

A series of 33 infiltrative adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix treated during the period from 1965 to 1970 is assessed and compared with a previous series from this institution and with series reported in the literature. The findings indicate that adenocarcinomas constitute and increasing proportion of cervical carcinomas and in this series make up 9.6% of all cervical carcinomas as compared with a previous figure of 5.5%. Five patients in the series were 32 years of age or less, and all had been receiving oral contraceptives for varying periods of time prior to the diagnosis of carcinomas. Radical surgery or irradiation treatment followed by extrafascial conservative hysterectomy in appropriate cases may offer increased survival for operable stages of adenocarcinoma, particularly in the presence of bulky lesions.