Primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube.
BACKGROUND
Because of the rarity of fallopian tube cancer, clinical approaches have changed during the last 18 years.


METHODS
Twenty-nine patients with fallopian tube cancer were treated at the Gynecologic Oncology Department of Milan University from 1970 to 1988. The mean patient age was 59 years. Parity, symptomatology and histology were considered. Distribution by stage was as follows: I, 11 (37%); II, 10 (34%); III, 8 (27%) according to the Dodson classification. Twenty patients (69%) underwent surgery followed by pelvic irradiation. Adjuvant chemotherapy was performed in the treatment of 5 women with stage I disease, 6 with stage II, and all 8 with stage III.


RESULTS
Five-year overall survival was 41.38%: 47.6% at stages I and II, 25% at stage III. Radiotherapy has not been replaced by cisplatin-based multiagent chemotherapy. Optimal surgical debulking combined with accurate lymph node sampling are not followed by systematic use of repeat laparotomy.


CONCLUSIONS
The procedures described in this work improve the clinical assessment and patient survival, and make different series comparable.
Frigerio
L
L
IIIa Clinica di Ostetricia e Ginecologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Istituto Scientifico S. Raffaele, Italy.
Pirondini
A
A
Pileri
M
M
Pifarotti
G
G
Busci
L
L
Rabaiotti
E
E
Ferrari
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005185:Fallopian Tube Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008220:Lymphography; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016019:Survival Analysis