Adenocarcinoma and mixed carcinoma of the uterine cervix. I. A. clinicopathologic study.

Ninety-two primary glandular neoplasms of the uterine cervix, including 51 endocervical adenocarcinomas, four endometrioid carcinomas, and 37 mixed carcinomas, were reviewed to define the biologic significance of pathologic features. Pure adenocarcinomas were found to have a better prognosis from mixed carcinomas of comparable stage (overall five-year survival rate, 49 vs. 36%). Endocervical adenocarcinomas with glandular and papillary patterns had a better prognosis than mucinous adenocarcinomas. When mixed carcinomas were separated into mature, signet-ring, and glassy-cell types, patients with the glassy-cell type had a better five-year survival rate than patients with the other types. However, the long-term prognosis was equally poor. The degree of differentiation as determined by the nuclear features was useful in predicting the outcome in patients with adenocarcinomas. Although the number of cases was small, combined surgery and radiotherapy achieved the best long-term survival for patients with pure adenocarcinomas. This was less apparent for mixed carcinomas.