Benefit of Adjuvant Radiotherapy in Surgically Staged Stage I-II Endometrial Carcinoma

Adjuvant chemotherapy in stage I uterine endometrial carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

We have assessed prognostic factors and the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy in stage I uterine endometrial carcinoma.

METHODS

251 primary surgically treated stage I patients were studied. Prognostic factors were evaluated and 5-year and 10-year survival rates were compared in patients with lymph-vascular space invasion to investigate whether adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival.

RESULTS

The overall 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 94% and 93%. Multivariate analysis indicates that lymph-vascular space invasion is the most significant prognostic factor in both 5- and 10-year survival rates (P<0.001 at both times) and stage/depth of invasion is significant for the 10-year survival rate (P=0.04). Of 54 patients with lymph-vascular space invasion, statistically significant differences were observed in 10-year survival rate (P=0.02) between patients who had surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy (n=23) and patients who had surgery alone (n=31). Toxicities were mild to moderate (30%).

CONCLUSIONS

The clinical importance of lymph-vascular space invasion and the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy were confirmed. This observation warrants a larger comparative study with adjuvant chemotherapy.

Stage I-II endometrial adenocarcinoma evolution of therapeutic paradigms: the role of surgery and adjuvant radiation

The objective was to review the English-language literature regarding the utility of adjuvant radiation therapy following surgery for endometrial adenocarcinoma. An OVID software (Ovid Technologies, Inc., New York, NY) search of Medline articles from 1975 to 2001 was conducted using the keywords "endometrial neoplasm," "surgery," and "radiation therapy." The papers were assessed with regard to (a) extent of surgical staging (b) type of adjuvant radiotherapy utilized: external vs. brachytherapy vs. combination therapy; and (c) whether the patients were treated as part of prospective trial or reported as a descriptive series reflecting an institution's practice pattern. Survival rates are excellent for patients with early stage disease treated in either paradigm of extended-surgical staging with more restricted use of the adjuvant therapy or simple hysterectomy bilateral salpingoophorectomy with more frequent use of adjuvant radiotherapy. All three prospective-randomized trials (PRCT) have shown an improvement in local control but no overall survival benefit for the entire accrued group. All three PRCTs have shown a higher risk of disease recurrence in older patients or those with grade 3 histology or deep invasion. Each suggests there may be a survival benefit for the subset of patients with such high-risk features, but at present there is no prospective data that demonstrates adjuvant radiotherapy will improve the overall survival for the highest-risk subset of older patients with high-grade deeply invasive disease.

Clinical behavior of 203 stage II endometrial cancer cases: the impact of primary surgical approach and of adjuvant radiation therapy

The aim of this study was to verify the impact of primary surgical approach and adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) on survival, recurrence rate, and pattern of relapse in stage II endometrial cancer patients. Two hundred three subjects were retrospectively reviewed; 135 (66%) underwent simple hysterectomy (SH) and 68 (34%) radical hysterectomy (RH). Sixty-six of 111 (59%) of stage IIA and 67 of 92 (73%) of stage IIB patients underwent adjuvant radiation therapy. Actuarial survival rates for stage IIA and IIB were 86% and 74% at 5 years and 82% and 68% at 10 years, respectively. Survival rates by surgical procedure were 79% in the SH group and 94% in the RH group at 5 years and 74% and 94% at 10 years, respectively (P < 0.05). The overall recurrence rate was 13.8% (28/203); by adjuvant treatment it was 18.6% (13/70) in the observation group and 11.3% (15/133) in the RT group. Most of the relapses were locoregional in the observation group and distant in the RT group. Survival rates by RT were not statistically different. Subjects treated with RH improved their survival compared with the SH group; the difference was significant, but randomized studies should confirm this trend. Although adjuvant RT seemed to reduce the recurrence rate, there was no significant difference in survival, and so the role of RT still needs further verification.

Radiation therapy in endometrial cancer

The role of radiation in endometrial cancer, especially in the adjuvant setting, is controversial. Factors that influence radiotherapy recommendations include surgical considerations, pathological findings, potential sites of disease recurrence and the practice philosophies of the individual physician. It has been demonstrated that adjuvant radiotherapy following primary surgery significantly improves pelvic tumour control, but has no measurable impact on overall survival in an unselected patient population. Studies to date have been hampered by the inclusion of patients with a wide spectrum of prognostic features; this may decrease the likelihood of observing greater benefit in discriminate subsets at higher risk of relapse. Further trials are required to define clinical prognosis more precisely and to investigate the role of radiation in higher-risk patients. In the meantime, we propose guidelines for radiotherapy in endometrial cancer which serve as bases for discussion and collaboration among physicians and as platforms for future study and progress.