Type II radical hysterectomy and adjuvant therapy for pelvic lymph node metastasis with stage IB-IIB cervical carcinoma: a retrospective study of 288 patients

Investigation of the clinical implications of anterior cervical invasion in locally advanced cervical squamous cell carcinoma

PURPOSES

This study investigates the clinical significance of the anterior parametrical invasion in surgically treated patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

METHODS

We included patients diagnosed with cervical SCC with local lesions classified as T2b, who were treated at our department between January 2006 and December 2020. We evaluated the degree of anterior invasion using pretreatment magnetic resonance imaging and divided patients into three groups: partial, equivocal, and full invasion. The frequency of recurrence within 3 years (early recurrence) and overall prognosis were assessed.

RESULTS

There were 12, 24, and 46 cases in the partial equivocal, and full invasion groups, respectively. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy was the mainstay of treatment across all groups (7, 17, and 27 cases, respectively). Although the frequency of early recurrence tended to be worse in the full group (partial; 2/7 cases, equivocal; 3/17 cases and full; 9/27 cases), all early local recurrence cases in the full group (four cases) responded well to the subsequent treatment. As for overall survival, the full invasion group had the best prognosis among the three groups.

CONCLUSIONS

In surgical treatment, although full anterior invasion may increase the risk of early local recurrence, it was considered to have little prognostic impact.

The role of lymph nodes in cervical cancer: incidence and identification of lymph node metastases-a literature review

Correct identification of patients with lymph node metastasis from cervical cancer prior to treatment is of great importance, because it allows more tailored therapy. Patients may be spared unnecessary surgery or extended field radiotherapy if the nodal status can be predicted correctly. This review captures the existing knowledge on the identification of lymph node metastases in cervical cancer. The risk of nodal metastases increases per 2009 FIGO stage, with incidences in the pelvic region ranging from 2% (stage IA2) to 14-36% (IB), 38-51% (IIA) and 47% (IIB); and in the para-aortic region ranging from 2 to 5% (stage IB), 10-20% (IIA), 9% (IIB), 13-30% (III) and 50% (IV). In addition, age, tumor size, lymph vascular space invasion, parametrial invasion, depth of stromal invasion, histological type, and histological grade are reported to be independent prognostic factors for the risk of nodal metastases. Furthermore, biomarkers can contribute to predict a patient's nodal status, of which the squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) is currently the most widely used in squamous cell cervical cancer. Still, pre-treatment lymph node assessment is primarily performed by imaging, of which diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging has the highest sensitivity and 2-deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission computed tomography the highest specificity. Imaging results can be combined with clinical parameters in nomograms to increase the accuracy of predicting positives nodes. Despite all the progress regarding pre-treatment prediction of lymph node metastases in cervical cancer in recent years, prediction rates are not robust enough to safely abandon surgical staging of the pelvic or para-aortic region yet.

Laparoscopic versus open radical hysterectomy in patients with stage IB2 and IIA2 cervical cancer

OBJECTIVES

To compare survival and surgical outcomes of laparoscopic (LRH) and open radical hysterectomy (ORH) in patients with stage IB2 and IIA2 cervical cancer.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was performed on 303 patients with stage IB2 and IIA2 cervical cancer who underwent LRH (n = 115) or ORH (n = 188).

RESULTS

Two patients (1.7%) in the LRH group required conversion to laparotomy. There was no difference with respect to operating time, perioperative change in hemoglobin level, and need for transfusion. However, in the LRH group, estimated blood loss (P = 0.003) was significantly lower, time to recovery of bowel movement (P < 0.001) and length of postoperative hospital stay (P < 0.001) were significantly shorter, and postoperative complications were significantly less frequent (P = 0.036). The 5-year disease-free survival was 78% in the LRH group and 77% in the ORH group (P = 0.718), and 5-year overall survival was 83% in both groups (P = 0.746). There were no differences in pattern of recurrence (P = 0.225) and median time to recurrence (12 vs. 13 months; P = 0.240).

CONCLUSIONS

LRH has similar therapeutic efficacy to ORH in patients with bulky early-stage cervical cancer. However, LRH has more favorable surgical outcomes. Therefore, LRH is not only a reasonable alternative to ORH but also the preferred surgical procedure for these patients.