MICROINVASIVE CARCINOMA OF CERVIX - LATE RESULTS OF OPERATIVE TREATMENT IN 91 CASES

Ninety-one cases of carcinoma of the uterine cervix with stromal invasion of 5 mm. or less were reviewed 5 or more years after operation. Metastasis occurred in 2 cases; one of these patients is alive 5 years after Wertheim hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy and the other died during the sixth year after vaginal hysterectomy. The data yield only equivocal support for the contention that conservative treatment is adequate for all cases of microinvasive carcinoma of the cervix. Simple hysterectomy cures many of the so-called early lesions, including those exhibiting borderline stromal invasion. This treatment is inadequate for a carcinoma with the metastatic potential implied by the presence of tumor cells in vascular spaces. Of less serious import are lesions with definite but limited (3 mm. or less) invasion of the stroma but no discernible invasion of vessels. © 1969.