Sarcomas of the Female Genitalia: Therapy and Prognosis

216 sarcomas of the female genitalia were treated at the University hospitals for women of Freiburg and Tübingen between the years 1957 to 1977. 76% originated from the uterine corpus; 28% (46/164) of the sarcomas of the corpus uteri were detected as incidental findings. The 5 year survival rate is 54% in stage I, 25% in stage II, and 40% in all stages (52/131). Postoperative irradiation of stage I cases of sarcomas of the corpus uteri diminished local recurrence but not metastases. Extirpation of the ovaries has no influence on local recurrence.Sarcomas of the vulva and cervix have a comparatively good prognosis, whereas the prognosis of the sarcoma of the ovary is very bad.The bad prognosis of sarcomas of the female genitalia points out the necessity of developing cooperative clinical trials on the effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy.