Background: To determine the prognostic factors and treatment outcomes of patients with early-stage adenocarcinoma (AdCa) of uterine cervix who underwent radical hysterectomy (RH).
Methods: Patients with early-stage squamous cell carcinoma (SCCa) of the uterine cervix who underwent RH were compared with patients with AdCa by multivariate analysis.
Results: A total of 1218 patients were eligible, of which 996 (81.8%) had SCCa and 222 (18.2%) had AdCa. In multivariate analysis, parametrial involvement and lymph node metastasis were significant factors for both recurrence-free survival(RFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with AdCa, whereas age, tumour size, parametrial involvement and lymph node metastasis were significant factors for both RFS and OS of patients with SCCa. After adjusting for significant prognostic factors, patients with AdCa had significantly poorer RFS (odds ratio (OR)=2.07, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.37-3.12, P=0.001) and OS (OR=2.56, 95% CI=1.65-3.96, P<0.001) than patients with SCCa. Recurrence outside the pelvis was more frequent in AdCa than in those with SCCa (75 vs 57.8%, P=0.084).
Conclusion(s): Although RH is still acceptable for treatment of patients with AdCa, a more effective systemic adjuvant therapy is required.