Prior Tubal Ligation Might Influence Metastatic Spread of Nonendometrioid Endometrial Carcinoma

OBJECTIVE The exfoliation of endometrial carcinoma might intraperitoneally spread through the fallopian tube. We analyzed the influence of prior tubal ligation (TL) in endometrial carcinoma to evaluate whether it can prevent the process and improve patients' survival. METHODS A total of 562 patients with a diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma at the Peking University People's Hospital between July 1995 and June 2012 were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into 2 groups based on the presence or absence of prior TL. International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage distributions, recurrence rates, survival status, and histopathological findings were compared between the 2 groups. Kaplan-Meier estimates and log-rank tests were used to compare the survival status based on TL in the overall population and stratified by histopathological subtypes and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages. Cox models analysis was used to estimate the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for associations between TL and carcinoma-specific mortality. All statistical tests were 2-sided. RESULTS Of the 562 patients, 482 (85.7%) had a diagnosis of endometrioid and 80 patients (14.2%) with nonendometrioid carcinoma. Tubal ligation was associated with negative peritoneal cytology in the total population (P = 0.015) and in patients with endometrioid carcinomas (P = 0.02) but not help to reduce carcinoma-specific mortality (P = 0.095 and P = 0.277, respectively). In the nonendometrioid group, TL was not only associated with negative peritoneal cytology (P = 0.004) but also with lower stage (P < 0.001) and lower recurrence rate(P < 0.005), resulting in improved prognosis (P = 0.022). In Cox models analysis adjusted for covariates, TL was inversely associated with lower endometrial carcinoma-specific mortality (hazard ratio, 0.47; 95% confidence interval, 0.14-2.6). CONCLUSION Tubal ligation was associated with lower positive peritoneal cytology, stages, and recurrence rate, and improved prognosis among patients with nonendometrioid carcinoma. Tubal ligation might influence metastatic spread of nonendometrioid endometrial carcinoma. It could also help to reduce positive peritoneal cytology among patients with endometrioid carcinoma, but lacked prognostic significance.