The different prognoses for patients with adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas of the cervix uteri were proved by matched-pair analysis. One hundred forty-four patients with adenocarcinoma treated in 1964-1985 were compared in a ratio of 1:2 with 268 patients with squamous cell carcinoma comparable in age, stage, and treatment modality. In both groups 45% of patients were in stage I, 38% in stage II, 15% in stage III, and 2% in stage IV. Five- and 10-year survivals of patients with adenocarcinoma were significantly lower than for those with squamous cell carcinoma (53% resp. 42% vs 68% vs 58%, P = 0.006). In an analyses of patients' prognosis according to clinical stage there was no significant difference between both groups in stages III and IV treated exclusively by radiotherapy. No significant differences were found in stage I and II patients treated by radical surgery. However, the most significant difference in prognosis was seen in stage I and II patients treated by radiotherapy. Five-year survival was 58.6% in stage I adenocarcinomas compared with 85.0% in squamous cell carcinomas. It can be concluded from these results that a discussion of the problem of FIGO staging is more necessary than a discussion of the different radiosensitivities of these two histological types. Surgical treatment must have the same priority as radical surgery or staging laparotomy for exact histologic staging in adenocarcinomas of the cervix uteri.