Is Tumor-Free Distance an Independent Prognostic Factor for Early-Stage Endometrioid Endometrial Cancer?

There are many studies assessing the importance of myometrial invasion using a cut-off limit as 50% of myometrial invasion for endometrial cancer, and there are a limited number of studies evaluating tumor-free distance to the serosa. To evaluate the prognostic performance of tumor-free distance and percentage of myometrial invasion in patients with stage IB endometrioid endometrial cancer, we retrospectively evaluated 133 patients diagnosed and treated as stage IB endometrioid endometrial cancer. Tumor-free distance was assessed, and recurrence and recurrence-free survival were analyzed. Nine patients had recurrent disease (6.8%). Recurrence-free survival was 200 months. Two patients died because of malignancy. In the Cox regression model according to tumor-free distance, depth of invasion, and percentage of myometrial invasion, it was seen that none of these parameters were significant to predict the recurrence (p > 0.05). In conclusion, tumor-free distance is not an independent prognostic factor for patients with stage IB endometrioid endometrial cancer.