Excellent Response to Palliative Chemotherapy for Pleural Recurrence of Uterine Papillary Serous Carcinoma

Uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) is an aggressive variant of endometrial cancer. Though the majority of women with UPSC have high risk of recurrence, recurrence limited only to the pleural space has not been previously reported. It is also unusual for it to occur as late as 10 years after the initial treatment as it is usually very aggressive. There is scant information in literature on response to treatment in these patients. A 65-year-old African-American woman was treated for FIGO stage IIA UPSC with total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and pelvic lymphadenectomy with (32)P catheter placement, followed by adjuvant external beam radiation. She relapsed 10 years later with right pleural effusion and pleural based nodules. Fluid cytology was consistent with UPSC. She was treated with 6 cycles of carboplatin and paclitaxel with excellent clinical and biochemical response. She continues to remain disease free 5 years later. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of UPSC recurrence limited to pleura, and this is also the first reported case of UPSC recurrence without evidence of disease 5 years after palliative chemotherapy.