RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical experiences of patients with the primary tubal cancer diagnosed and treated in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gacheon Medical School from January 1996 to December 2000. METHODS: Age, symptoms, Pap smear, CA-125, preoperative diagnosis, mode of surgery, stage, additional pathologic finding, mode of adjuvant therapy and survival periods of patients were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 57.4 years. The symptoms were vaginal spotting, leukorrhea and pelvic mass. Three patients were treated by simple hysterectomy and both salpingoophorectomy. Staging laparotomy was done in 4 patients. Three patients were in stage I, 2 patients were in stage II and 2 patients were in stage III. Endometrial adenocarcinoma was present in 1 patient and endometrial hyperplasia was present in 1 patient. The mean follow-up period of five patients were 25.4 months and 2 patients were lost for follow-up. Conclusions: The primary tubal cancer was rare gynecologic malignancy and the preoperative diagnosis was difficult due to non-specific symptoms and signs. Staging laparotomy and adjuvant chemotherapy should be done like in ovarian cancer. More studies may be needed for the associated endometiral diseases.