Analysis of stage IVB endometrial carcinoma patients with distant metastasis: a review of prognoses in 55 patients.

BACKGROUND: Adequate treatment for extremely advanced endometrial cancer is unknown. The purpose of this study was to clarify the prognosis of patients with stage IVB endometrial carcinoma and the validity of treatment. Furthermore, we evaluated whether there was a connection between the prognosis and the site of metastasis. METHODS: The prognoses of 55 patients with stage IVB endometrial carcinoma were studied with reference to the initial treatment method and the metastatic site at the time of the initial treatment. RESULTS: The median survivals of the group of 35 patients who were initially treated with surgery and the group of 10 patients who underwent radiotherapy or chemotherapy as their initial treatment followed by surgery were 11.5 months and 9.5 months, respectively. The residual tumor diameter after surgery was precisely measured in 40 of these 45 patients. The prognosis was significantly better in the patients with a residual tumor diameter of less than 2 cm compared to those with a tumor diameter of 2 cm or greater, and the median survival periods in these two groups were 23.5 months and 11.5 months, respectively (P = 0.027). Furthermore, the prognosis of patients with lung metastasis was significantly better than that of patients with non-lung hematogenous metastasis; the median survival periods of these two groups were 18.5 months and 10.5 months, respectively (P = 0.014). CONCLUSION: For operable patients, surgery as an initial treatment and reduction of the residual tumor size to less than 2 cm appeared to contribute to a better prognosis. In addition, conservative initial treatment and the presence of non-lung hematogenous metastasis were poor prognostic factors.