Article Text
Abstract
Objectives Primitive Carcinoma of the Fallopian tube is extremely rare and represents 0,1 to 1% of all malignant tumors of the pelvis. The aim of this study is to describe its clinical and prognostic features.
Methods It is a retrospective study conducted in the Tunisian Central Cancer Registry during a 15 year period (2004 – 2018) collecting all the pathologically established and confirmed cases of primitive carcinoma of the Fallopian tube.
Results The incidence of Primitive Carcinoma of the Fallopian tube was 1/1559 of all the Ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancers in our registry. The mean age at the diagnosis was 54.2 years. Pelvic pain was the main symptom. Pelvic clinical examination reported a mass in 86% of the cases. Pelvic ultrasound revealed a para-uterine image in all cases but could not differentiate between an ovarian tumor, a Fallopian tube one, or a tubo-ovarian infectious abscess. The perioperative diagnosis was evocated during laparoscopy in only 12% of the cases. The different pathological diagnoses of Primitive Carcinoma of the Fallopian tube were: tubal carcinoma in situ, tubal Carcinoma, tubal adenocarcinoma, and tubal papillar adenocarcinoma. An optimal cytoreduction surgery was possible in 86% of the cases. During the follow-up, the recurrence rate was 24% and the overall survival rate at 3 years was 82%.
Conclusions Primitive Carcinoma of the Fallopian tube is a very rare entity in our daily practice. Diagnosis is rarely made before surgery or the pathological study. The 3-year prognosis is relatively good.