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A management program for FIGO stage I-II nonserous, nonclear-cell adenocarcinomas was evaluated. Histopathology and DNA ploidy were used to estimate postoperatively the risk of progression or death of disease and to tailor treatment. The patient material was a population-based consecutive cohort of all women with endometrial cancer in the Southern Swedish Health Care Region diagnosed between June 1993 and June 1996 (n=553). Of these, 335 were eligible for the management program. Patients estimated to be at low risk were treated by surgery only, while high-risk patients also received vaginal brachytherapy. A large low-risk group consisting of 84% (n=283) of the patients with an estimated disease-specific 5-year survival of 96% (95% CI=93-98%) was identified. The high-risk group (n=52, 16%) showed a worse outcome with an 80% 5-year disease-specific survival (95% CI=65-89%). The difference in survival between the groups was highly significant (P<0.0001). Half of the progressions were distant in the high-risk group. Although there is a clear indication for adjuvant therapy for this group, locoregional radiotherapy could be expected to fail in cases with distant progression. Thus, effective systemic treatments need to be developed. Low-risk patients, constituting the majority (84%) of the patients, can be safely treated by surgery only.

In order to investigate the effects of conservation in liquid nitrogen and formalin on peripheral vascular tissue (abdominal aortic, femoral and flank artery tissue) laser-induced fluorescence spectra were recorded during the exposure of these tissues to He-Cd radiation (442 nm). The spectral distribution of tissue fluorescence allowed the development of simple algorithms based on the intensity difference in order to discriminate the tissue samples when they were fresh and after they were stored for 24 and 48 hours in liquid nitrogen or formalin.