OBJECTIVE This study aimed at analyzing the evolution and type of recurrence in patients treated for stage I endometrial carcinomas, in order to define the respective roles of adjuvant radiotherapy and brachytherapy. METHODS This monocentric retrospective study was conducted at Centre Alexis-Vautrin, Nancy, France, between January 1995 and December 2000 on all the patients surgically treated for an endometrial cancer, and then treated with high dose rate vaginal brachytherapy. The brachytherapy was delivered in two or three fractions of 7 Gy at 5 mm from the applicator. RESULTS In the good prognosis group, the specific and overall survivals at 5 years were respectively 96.5 and 94.2% with no local recurrence demonstrated. In the intermediate prognostic group, the specific and overall survivals at 5 years were respectively 88 and 85%, with six locoregional recurrences observed among those who did not undergo lymphadenectomy; the overall survival at 5 years was significantly decreased in the absence of external radiation. In the group of poor prognosis (stages II and III), the specific survival at 5 years was respectively 72.8 and 67 %, and the overall survival at 5 years 66.7 and 56.4%. CONCLUSIONS Results for local control and survival as well as for tolerance were good. So we have decided to deliver high rate brachytherapy for all intermediate or poor prognosis patients and we have abandoned pelvic radiotherapy for good prognosis tumours (stages IA: no myometrium invasion with grade 3 and >50% of myometrium invasion with grades 1 and 2), whatever the lymph nodes surgery they had. We now propose pelvic radiotherapy only for intermediate prognosis tumours (such as IA>50% of myometrium invasion with grade 3 and IB stages), if patients did not have any lymphatic surgery, or for bad prognosis tumours.