Treatment and survival for women with Fallopian tube carcinoma: a population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to evaluate treatment and survival for women with fallopian tube carcinoma in a population-based data set.


METHODS
Using the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program, we identified 416 women with fallopian tube carcinoma diagnosed between 1990 and 1997. We analyzed treatment and 5-year relative survival. We also compared survival to that of 9032 women with epithelial ovarian cancer diagnosed between 1991 and 1997.


RESULTS
Almost half of those diagnosed with stage I/II disease did not undergo surgical evaluation of lymph nodes. Most women with stage I/II disease were treated with surgery alone, while most women with stage III/IV disease were treated with surgery and chemotherapy. Five-year relative survival by FIGO stage was as follows: stage I (N = 102), 95%; stage II (N = 29), 75%; stage III (N = 52), 69%; stage IV (N = 151), 45%.


CONCLUSIONS
We observed better survival, stage by stage, for women with fallopian tube carcinoma than for women with epithelial ovarian cancer in this population-based data set. It is possible that some patients with advanced, bulky carcinoma arising in the fallopian tube may have been classified as having ovarian or primary peritoneal cancer. Women with fallopian tube cancer should be treated in accordance with the same guidelines for surgical staging, debulking, and adjuvant chemotherapy as for women with epithelial ovarian cancer. Further studies, both laboratory and clinical, are needed to delineate the differences between fallopian and ovarian cancers.
Kosary
Carol
C
National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
Trimble
Edward L
EL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005187:Fallopian Tubes; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D018426:SEER Program; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology