Background: Fallopian tube carcinoma is a rare disease, and few data about prognostic factors are available in the literature.
Patients and methods: The medical charts of 47 patients with primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube treated at our institution between 1982 and 1994 were reviewed. Age, stage, histologic grade, residual disease after surgery, peritoneal cytology and lymph-node involvement were evaluated for their prognostic impact in a univariate analysis.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 57.5 years and 19 of them (40%) had early-stage disease. Poorly differentiated tumors were diagnosed in 64% of the patients. Eleven of 20 patients (55%) submitted to surgical evaluation of lymph nodes had retroperitoneal involvement. Thirty-three patients received CAP chemotherapy following surgery, and the overall clinical response rate was 80%. Sixteen patients (34%) had recurrences within 8 to 50 months from diagnosis. Twenty patients (42.6%) are alive without disease, one patient is alive with tumor, and 26 patients (55.3%) died of the disease. The median survival for the group as a whole was 44 months, and the actuarial 5-year survival was 29%. In univariate analysis stage (I + II vs. III + IV), grade (G1 + G2 vs. G3) residual disease after surgery (less than 2 cm vs. greater than 2 cm). peritoneal cytology (negative vs. positive) and lymph-node metastases were all factors significantly affecting survival.
Conclusions: Aggressive cytoreductive surgery followed by platin-based chemotherapy offer the possibility of long-term control of primary tubal carcinoma.