The significance of adnexal involvement in endometrial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prognostic significance of and predictive factors for adnexal involvement (AI) in patients with endometrial carcinoma.
METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the pathological features and outcomes of endometrial carcinoma patients. The prognostic significance of AI was examined by univariate and multivariate analyses. Median follow-up was 30.7 months.
RESULTS: Of the 382 cases reviewed, 40 (10.5%) had AI. Patients with AI had a worse 5-year disease-free (DFS) survival (73.1 vs 37.1%, P < 0.0001) than patients without AI. However, patients with AI had multiple adverse features, including high grade disease, lymphovascular invasion, and additional sites of extrauterine disease. After controlling for these factors on multivariate analysis, AI lost its prognostic significance (P = 0.56). The 12 AI patients without other extrauterine disease had a favorable outcome (5-year DFS of 70.9%). Factors predictive of AI on logistic regression were metastatic disease, positive peritoneal washings, cervical involvement, and unfavorable histology.
CONCLUSION: Endometrial carcinoma patients with AI have relatively poor prognoses. However, AI per se has little, if any, independent prognostic significance. The poor outcomes seen in these patients appear to result from the preponderance of other adverse pathologic factors. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.