ADVANCED ENDOMETRIAL CANCER DETECTED AT 7 MONTHS AFTER CHILDBIRTH

It is very rare to find endometrial cancers arising within a short per iod following childbirth, presumably because pregnancy has a protectiv e effect against endometrial cancer mediated by elevated secretion of progesterone. We present the case of a 30-year-old Japanese woman with stage IIIC endometrial cancer that was found 7 months after childbirt h. The patient was treated with surgery followed by 6 cycles of intrav enous combination chemotherapy and oral administration of medroxyproge sterone acetate. Histopathological examination of surgical specimen re vealed poorly differentiated adenosquamous carcinoma of the endometriu m with deep myometrial invasion, cervical stromal involvement, and pel vic and paraaortic lymph node metastases. The disease progressed rapid ly and the patient died of the disease. (C) 1997 Academic Press.