Do conventional pathologic features lose their prognostic significance following postoperative radiation therapy in pathologic stage I-II endometrial adenocarcinoma?

Recent data have suggested that conventional pathologic features (myometrial invasion (MI), grade, stage) lose their prognostic significance following postoperative radiation therapy (RT) in Stage I–II endometrial carcinoma. Our goal was to test this finding in a large cohort of women treated at our institution. Between 1980 and 1997, 188 Stage I (140) and II (48) endometrial adenocarcinoma patients received postoperative RT. RT consisted of pelvic RT (112), vaginal brachytherapy (36), or both (40). Clinicopathologic factors were evaluated as prognostic factors on both univariate and multivariate analyses. Factors correlated with recurrence on univariate analysis included MI (P = 0.05), grade (P = 0.07), lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (P = 0.001) and stage (P = 0.03). Multivariate analysis confirmed the significance of grade (P = 0.02), LVI (P = 0.001), and stage (P = 0.02). Conventional pathologic features do not lose their prognostic significance in pathologic Stage I–II endometrial adenocarcinoma patients following postoperative RT. These factors should continue to be used to identify women at risk for recurrence despite adjuvant RT. New prognostic markers are needed to better identify high-risk patients. Int. J. Cancer (Radiat. Oncol. Invest.) 90, 224–230 (2000). © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.