A retrospective analysis of 201 patients with clinical Stage I or II endometrial carcinoma treated by combined surgery and radiation therapy from January 1976 to December 1992 is reported. The aim of the study was to determine predictors, if any, for distant recurrence. Twenty-eight patients (13.9%) in our series developed a recurrence. The most common sites were peritoneal carcinosis (28.6%), bones (28.6%), and lungs (21.4%). Seventy-eight percent appeared within 3 years, and actuarial survival rates at 12, 36, and 60 months after recurrence were 39.2, 14.2, and 7.1%, respectively. An analysis of predictive factors significant for the development of distant recurrence was performed. Significant factors by univariate analysis were age (P = 0.019), stage (P = 0.02), grade (P = 0.014), depth of myometrial invasion (P = 0.007), lymph node involvement (P < 0.001), and peritoneal cytology (P = 0.006). A multivariate analysis of these variables showed that lymph node involvement was the strongest predictor for distant recurrence.