From January 1976 to December 1985, 121 patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix were treated in our hospital. This represented 4.3% of all carcinoma of the cervix during that period. The mean age was 53.9 years. The most common symptoms were vaginal bleeding and discharge. Only one case (0.8%) was asymptomatic. Over 3 parities was accounted for 73.6% of all patients. Five (4.1%) were nulliparous. 16 of 22 had negative cytology. The histologic classification was as follows: adenocarcinoma (70.25%), papillary adenocarcinoma (10.74%), adenosquamous and adeno-acanthoma (14.88%), clear-cell carcinoma (4.13%). According to FIGO staging: 9 were of stage I (7.4%), 59 stage II (48.8%), 46 stage III (38%) and 7 stage IV (5.8%). Ninty-eight patients were treated by radiation alone, 11 by surgery combined with radiation, 12 by palliative treatment only. In the 109 patients with radical treatment, the overall 5 year survival rate was 44.95%. Stage I-IV were 77.8%, 52.5%, 27.5% and 0%, respectively. In patients with the tumor size < 3cm and > or = 3cm in diameter, the 5-year survival rate was 69.6% and 38.4%, respectively (P = 0.014). Local recurrence rate was 38.8% after satisfactory radiation in 98 cases. These result suggest that the prognosis for adenocarcinoma of the cervix is closely related to the poor sensitivity to radiotherapy, clinical staging and tumor size.