Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical experience and outcome of patients who have undergone pelvic exenteration for primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer.
Methods: We analyzed the medical records of 40 women who underwent pelvic exenteration to treat primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer.
Results: Pelvic exenteration was performed in 40 patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. Three patients (8%) underwent a primary exenteration, and 37 patients (92%) underwent a secondary exenteration. A total exenteration, anterior exenteration, and posterior exenteration was performed in 85%, 5%, and 10% of patients, respectively.In 31 cases, exenteration was performed with a curative aim, and in 9 cases, exenteration was performed with a palliative aim. The overall survival rates were 61.4% at 5 years and 51.1% at 10 years. For the 31 patients who underwent pelvic exenteration with a curative aim, the overall survival rates were higher than those for the entire study population and were 72.6% at 5 years and 59.4% at 10 years. For the 9 patients who underwent a palliative exenteration, the overall survival rates were 19.1% at 5 years and 0% at 10 years. This is to the best of our knowledge the biggest study of pelvic exenteration in patients with endometrial cancer.
Conclusions: Our data show that pelvic exenterations are a valid therapeutic option with long-term survival in select patients.