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.