Staging and prognosis in primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube

✍ Scribed by Herbert M. Schiller; Steven G. Silverberg

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1971
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 432 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(197108)28:2<389::aid-cncr2820280219>3.0.co;2-2

✦ Synopsis

T h e diagnosis of primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube is rarely made preoperatively, so that no system of clinical staging can be devised. Nevertheless, the anatomic extent of the tumor found a t operation can provide useful prognostic information. A staging system utilizing clinicopathologic stages is presented, and 76 cases are analyzed by this method. More extensive tumors indicate poorer survival. Involvement of the tubal serosa, of ovary or corpus uteri, or of other pelvic and abdominal structures indicates the poorest prognosis. Bilaterality is associated with more advanced disease in this series, contrary to previous reports.

RIMARY CARCINOMA 01: T H E FALLOPIAN TUBE P is a rare gynecologic malignancy which is correctly diagnosed preoperatively in only 2% of cases.18 Since the extent of the tumor is rarely determined prior to surgery, one cannot use a preoperative staging method. This paper relates the anatomic extent of the tumor found at surgery to the patient's prognosis.

Methods

Reports of carcinoma of the fallopian tube published after 1955 were reviewed. This date was selected for our review because it begins with cases where the review of Sedlis34 ended; it also covered papers recent enough that the authors could still be contacted. The references were chiefly case reports and short seyear clinical course or the gross and microscopic extent of the tumor was not clear, follow-up letters were mailed to the authors; some articles provided data complete enough to make letters unnecessary.