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Background: To investigate the meaning of lymphadenectomy (LNE) in women with endometrial cancer (EC) for clinical outcome and secondly to determine the impact of the method of adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) on survival as well as to define prognostic factors. Methods: 322 patients (pts) underwent adjuvant RT for endometrioid EC at our department from 2004 until 2012 and were included in this retrospective study. Chi-square test, LogRank test and Cox regression were used for statistical analyses. Results: Median age at diagnosis: 66 years. FIGO stages: FIGO I 69.4 %, FIGO II 15.3 %, FIGO III 14.5 %, FIGO IV 0.9 %. Surgical staging: 30.6 % pelvic/paraaortic LNE, 45 % sole pelvic LNE, 8.8 % sampling of suspicious lymph nodes, 15.6 % no LNE. Adjuvant chemotherapy (ChT): 3.2 %. Sole intravaginal brachytherapy (IVB): 60.2 %. IVB + external beam radiotherapy (EBRT): 39.8 %. 5-year local recurrence free survival (LRFS): 90.6 %, distant metastases free survival (DMFS): 89.8 %, overall survival (OS):79.3 %. In multivariate analysis age (p = .007), pT stage (p = .029), lymph node status (p = .003), grading (p = .011) and lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI; p = .008) remained as independent prognostic factors for OS. Resection status (p = .01) and LVSI (p = .014) were independent prognostic factors for LRFS and LVSI (p = .008) was the only independent prognostic factor for DMFS. There was no statistically significant survival benefit from LNE in LRFS (p = .561), DMFS (p = .981) or OS (p = .791). 5-year LRFS in stage I and II: 96.0 and 82.9 % after sole IVB, 90.8 and 81.6 % after combined IVB/EBRT (p = .105; p = .970). 5-year OS rates for stage I and II: 86.5 and 71.3 % after sole IVB, 84.2 % and 69.2 % after combined IVB/EBRT (p = .153; p = .619). Conclusion: Comprehensive surgical staging is rarely performed and may be omitted in women with endometrioid EC in stages I-II. Sole IVB delivers equally good local control as combined IVB/EBRT in pts with FIGO stage I and II disease. LVSI deserves more attention as a prognostic factor and these pts may require a combined local and systemic therapy.

Background Type II (papillary serous and clear cell) endometrial carcinoma (EC) is a rare subgroup and is considered to have an unfavorable prognosis. The purpose of this retrospective analysis was to elucidate the meaning of adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) for clinical outcome and to define prognostic factors in these patients (pts). Methods From 2004-2012 forty-two pts with type II EC underwent surgery followed by adjuvant RT at our department. Median age was 72 years. The majority were early stage carcinomas (FIGO I n = 27 [64.3%], FIGO II n = 4 [9.5%], FIGO III n = 11 [26.2%]. Seven pts (16.7%) received adjuvant chemotherapy (ChT). Pts were treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and brachytherapy (IVB) boost. Results Five-year local recurrence free survival (LRFS), distant metastases free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS) were 85.4%, 78%, and 64.5% respectively. LRFS was better with lower pT stage, without lymphangiosis (L0), without haemangiosis (V0) and negative resection margins (R0). DMFS was prolonged in lymph node negatives (N0), L0, V0 and R0. OS was improved in younger pts, N0, L0, V0 and after lymphadenectomy (LNE). Multivariate analysis revealed haemangiosis (V1) as the only independent prognostic factor for OS (p = .014) and DMFS (p = .008). For LRFS pT stage remained as an independent prognostic factor (p = .028). Conclusions Adjuvant RT with EBRT/IVB ensures adequate local control in type II EC, but control rates remain lower than in type I EC. A benefit of additional adjuvant ChT could not be demonstrated and a general omission of EBRT cannot be recommended at this point. Lymphovascular infiltration and pT stage might be the best predictive factors for a benefit from combined local and systemic treatment.