Feasibility study: results of treatment of primary and recurrent adenocarcinoma of the corpus uteri with californium-252.

A trial of Cf-252 for the radiotherapy of primary or recurrent corpus adenocarcinoma was carried out at the University of Kentucky. The patients with primary tumors were of advanced age, poor general medical condition, and had multiple chronic medical illness, poorly differentiated tumors and/or metastatic Stage IVB disease. Fourteen patients with primary tumors were treated and all achieved complete local tumor control. The five year actuarial disease-free survival rate by the Kaplan-Meier method was 100% for Stage I-III disease, although 36% died of other, usually medical, causes. For eight patients treated with recurrent tumors, long term tumor control was 40% four year actuarial disease survival. Local control was 100% for vault recurrences of 3 cm diameter size, but only 6/8 (75%) cleared their pelvic tumors completely. Those that did not had tumors of massive size, distant metastatic disease and adenosquamous or poorly-differentiated (G3) pattern. One additional cut across, infected tumor was controlled for 26 months. Corpus carcinoma was highly sensitive to Cf-252 neutron radiation therapy.