M. D. Anderson Hospital for malignant mixed miillerian tumor of the uterus, 67 had their tumors recur. These patients were analyzed for recurrence pattern and response of recurrence to treatment. The most frequent sites of recurrence were the lung and abdomen, accounting for 66% of all first-site recurrences and 80% of all first-site distant metastases. Locoregional recurrences were much less frequent, accounting for 18% of recurrences. There was no apparent change in recurrence pattern with the addition of adjuvant chemotherapy. The effect of adjuvant radiation could not be assessed, because 95% of patients treated surgically received adjunctive radiation. The survival after treatment of recurrence was shortest for patients with bone, brain, or liver metastases (median, 4 months). There were four long-term survivors (more than 36 months). Patients with resectable recurrences had the highest response rates. Response to chemotherapy alone was uniformly poor (6% response rate).
Cancer 57:155-159, 1986.
EVIEW OF THE LITERATURE for patients with malig-R nant mixed mullerian tumor of the uterus, including a recent report of the survival experience from M. D. Anderson Hospital,'-'' shows 5-year survival rates that range from 0% to 38%. The 5-year survival rate recalculated to include the larger database from this analysis was 34%, which is not significantly different from the 38% we have previously reported. Malignant mixed mullerian tumor of the uterus represents only 2% to 3% of gynecologic malignancies; however, it has a very high mortality rate, even in early stages. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the patterns of recurrence as a guide to planning primary treatment and treatment of metastatic disease.
Materials and Methods
This analysis represents the experience gained from 136 patients who received all or part of their primary treatment at University of Texas System Cancer Center, M. D. Anderson Hospital from 1955 through 198 1 (analysis 1984). All patients except six were followed up on a regular basis