Does tumor size have prognostic value in patients undergoing lymphadenectomy in endometrioid-type endometrial cancer confined to the uterine corpus?

Prospective Study on the Use of Endo-Stapler for Enclosed Colpotomy to Prevent Tumor Spillage in Gynecologic Oncology Minimally Invasive Surgeries

Background and Objectives

This is a prospective trial of the endo-stapler application for vaginal closure before colpotomy in cases of carcinoma endometrium and carcinoma cervix, managed by minimally invasive surgery with due consideration of its surgical technique and short-term oncologic follow-up outcomes.

Methods

This was a prospective, single center study completed between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022. A total of 62 patients (43 cases of carcinoma endometrium and 19 cases of carcinoma cervix) were recruited for the study. Oncologic survival outcomes at the end of 1 and 2 years were documented.

Results

There were no major intraoperative bowel, urinary, or vascular injuries. None of the cases required conversion to laparotomy peroperatively. Our study had 8 patients with carcinoma endometrium (8/43) and 7 patients of carcinoma cervix (7/19) who have completed 24 months of follow-up without any recurrence to date.

Conclusion

Endo-stapler application for enclosed colpotomy to prevent tumor spillage is a futuristic step in gynecologic oncology cases managed by laparoscopy.

The association of tumor diameter with lymph node metastasis and recurrence in patients with endometrial cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Tumor diameter (TD)/original lesion area has been reported to have a certain predictive effect on lymph node metastasis (LNM) and recurrence of endometrial cancer (EC) patients, but there is still controversy about their relationship. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to provide reference for clinical management and follow-up studies of patients with EC.

METHODS

The databases of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP, and Wanfang were searched, from inception to 27 October 2022, for studies regarding the association of TD with LNM risk and recurrence rate in EC. The search strategy was developed using a combination of free terms and medical subject headings (MeSH). Stata 15.0 was used to conduct the statistical analysis. Odds ratio (OR) with the 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to evaluate the association of TD and the risk of LNM and recurrence in EC patients. The OR value obtained from the multivariate analysis is first extracted; the results of univariate analysis were extracted for articles without the results of multivariate analysis. Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) assessed the quality of the included articles, publication bias was evaluated by Egger's test with funnel plots.

RESULTS

There was a total of 69 studies 123,383 EC patients included. Meta-analysis showed higher LNM risk in EC patients with the TD >2 cm, which was 2.88 times higher than that in those with ≤2 cm, and the difference was statistically significant (OR =2.88; 95% CI: 2.12-3.89; P<0.001), publication bias had no effect on the results. The risk of recurrence in EC patients with a TD >2 cm was 2.45 times higher than that in those with ≤2 cm (OR =2.45; 95% CI: 1.73-3.48; P<0.001), publication bias exerted influence over the results.

CONCLUSIONS

TD is associated with LNM and recurrence in patients with EC. Therefore, TD should be considered in the scope of surgery and adjuvant therapy.

Is preoperative ultrasound tumor size a prognostic factor in endometrial carcinoma patients?

Objective

We aimed to assess the prognostic value of preoperative ultrasound tumor size in EC through a single center, observational, retrospective, cohort study.

Methods

Medical records and electronic clinical databases were searched for all consecutive patients with EC, preoperative ultrasound scans available to ad hoc estimate tumor size, and a follow-up of at least 2-year, at our Institution from January 2010 to June 2018. Patients were divided into two groups based on different dimensional cut-offs for the maximum tumor diameter: 2, 3 and 4 cm. Differences in overall survival (OS), disease specific survival (DSS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were assessed among the groups by using the Kaplan–Meier estimator and the log-rank test.

Results

108 patients were included in the study. OS, DSS and PFS did not significantly differ between the groups based on the different tumor diameter cut-offs. No significant differences were found among the groups sub-stratified by age, BMI, FIGO stage, FIGO grade, lymphovascular space invasion status, myometrial invasion, lymph nodal involvement, histotype, and adjuvant treatment.

Conclusions

Preoperative ultrasound tumor size does not appear as a prognostic factor in EC women.

Association of Tumor Size With Prognosis in Patients With Resectable Endometrial Cancer: A SEER Database Analysis

This study aimed to explore the relationship between tumor size (Ts) and prognosis in endometrial cancer (EC). A total of 52,208 patients with EC who underwent total hysterectomy were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program database. Overall survival (OS) and endometrial cancer-specific survival (ESS) were chosen as survival outcomes. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to explore the effect of Ts on prognosis. The restricted cubic splines based on the Cox regression model were used to determine the nonlinear relationship between Ts and survival. When Ts was analyzed as a categorical variable, the risk of death increased with Ts, with the highest risk in patients with Ts > 9 cm with regard to all-cause death (ACD) (hazard ratio [HR] 1.317; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.196-1.450; P < 0.001) and endometrial cancer-specific death (ESD) (HR, 1.378; 95% CI, 1.226-1.549; P < 0.001). As a continuous variable, Ts showed a nonlinear relationship with ACD (HR, 1.061; 95% CI, 1.053-1.069; P < 0.001) and ESD (HR, 1.062; 95% CI, 1.052-1.073; P < 0.001). The risk of mortality increased quickly with Ts when Ts was less than 7.5 cm and then leveled off when Ts was larger than 7.5 cm in all patients. Among patients with lymph node metastasis, the risk of poor prognosis decreased rapidly with Ts when Ts was less than 3.5 cm, and subsequently increased sharply with Ts when Ts ranged from 3.5 cm to 7.5 cm, and then increased slowly when Ts was larger than 7.5 cm (P < 0.001 for nonlinearity). There was a nonlinear relationship between Ts and prognosis in patients with EC. Clinicians should not ignore the impact of small tumors on prognosis in EC patients with lymph node metastasis.

Association of Tumor Size With Myometrial Invasion, Lymphovascular Space Invasion, Lymph Node Metastasis, and Recurrence in Endometrial Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of 40 Studies With 53,276 Patients

Background

Myometrial invasion (MI), lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), and lymph node metastasis (LNM) have been found to have independent prognostic factors in endometrial cancer. Tumor size has practical advantages in endometrial cancer. The cutoff values for tumor size conformed with current literature. More and more studies inferred that tumor size >20 mm showed a strong correlation. However, the relationship between tumor size >20 mm and MI, LVSI, LNM, recurrence, and overall survival (OS) remains controversial, and no meta-analysis has been conducted. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis should be performed to discuss this issue later on.

Methods

Relevant articles were collected from PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases from January 1990 to June 2021. The predictive value of tumor size >20 mm in endometrial cancer was studied, and data were pooled for meta-analysis using Review Manager 5.1. Additionally, the odds ratio (OR) was analyzed, and cumulative analyses of hazard ratio (HR) and their corresponding 95% CI were conducted.

Results

A total of 40 articles with 53,276 endometrial cancer patients were included in the meta-analysis. It contained 7 articles for MI, 6 for LVSI, 21 for LNM, 7 for recurrence, and 3 for OS. Primary tumor size >20 mm was significantly associated with depth of MI (OR = 5.59, 95% CI [5.02, 6.23], p < 0.001), positive LVSI (OR = 3.35, 95% CI [2.34, 4.78], p < 0.001), positive LNM (OR = 4.11, 95% CI [3.63, 4.66], p < 0.001), and recurrence (OR = 3.52, 95% CI [2.39, 5.19], p < 0.001). Tumor size >20 mm was also related to OS via meta-synthesis of HR in univariate survival (HR 2.13, 95% CI [1.28, 3.53], p = 0.003). There was no significant publication bias in this study by funnel plot analysis.

Conclusion

Primary tumor size >20 mm was an independent predictive factor for the depth of MI, positive LVSI, positive LNM, recurrence, and poor OS. Therefore, it is more important to take into account the value of tumor size in the clinicopathological staging of endometrial carcinoma. Tumor size >20 mm should be integrated into the intraoperative algorithm for performing a full surgical staging. Well-designed and multicenter studies, with a larger sample size, are still required to verify the findings.

Effect of age as a continuous variable in early-stage endometrial carcinoma: a multi-institutional analysis in China

Objective: To explore the effect of age at diagnosis as a continuous variable on survival and treatment choice of patients with early-stage endometrial carcinoma (EC).

Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from patients with early-stage EC from January 1999 to December 2015 in multiple institutions in China. All patients received primary hysterectomy/bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy for EC confirmed pathology of stage I and II disease (FIGO 2009 staging). All patients were divided into low-risk, intermediate-risk, high-intermediate-risk and high-risk groups according to ESMO-ESGO-ESTRO risk classification.

Results: The median follow-up time was 57months, and the 5-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) was 95.7%. Age as a continuous variable was an independent prognostic factor for CSS. With an increase in age, the hazard ratio (HR) for CSS increases gradually. Other independent prognostic factors included myometrial invasion (MI), grade, and chemotherapy. In the stratified analysis of age, the HRs of age on CSS in patients >70y were 5.516, 5.015, 4.469, 4.618, 5.334, and 5.821 after adjusting for cancer characteristics, local treatment, chemotherapy and treatment-related late toxicity. In patients 66-70-year-old, the HRs were 2.509, 2.074, 2.101, 2.091, 2.157 and 1.621 after adjusting for the above covariates. In patients ≤65y, there was no significant difference in the HR of age on CSS after adjustment.

Conclusion: Age as a continuous variable is an independent prognostic factor and 65 year-old may be the best cut-off point for CSS in patients with early-stage EC in the Asian population. Quality of life should be given greater weight in the choice of therapeutic schedule for those patients >70 y.

Clinicopathological Characteristics and Prognosis in Endometrial Cancer With Bone Metastasis: A SEER-Based Study of 584 Women

Purpose

Bone metastasis from endometrial cancer (EC) is rare and poorly described. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the correlation between the clinically accessible factors and survival time among EC patients with bone metastasis.

Patients and Methods

We retrospectively identified and reviewed EC patients with bone metastasis from 2010 to 2016, based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. Univariable and multivariable Cox regressions were applied to evaluate the effects of clinical variables on survival. Kaplan–Meier plots were used to visually demonstrate the correlation between independent risk factors and survival.

Results

Clinical data of 584 EC patients with bone metastasis from the SEER database were analyzed. EC patients with bone metastasis experienced extremely poor survival, with 1-year overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates 33.8 and 35.8%, respectively. Variables associated with OS and CSS in the univariable analysis included race, tumor grade, tumor subtype, tumor size, lung, liver and brain metastases, surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. In the multivariable analysis, tumor grade, tumor subtype, liver and brain metastases, local surgery, and systemic chemotherapy remained independent risk factors for OS and CSS. However, local radiotherapy was an independent predictor of OS, not CSS.

Conclusions

We identified several factors affect the survival of EC patients with bone metastasis, which is useful for clinicians to assess patients’ outcomes. Our study supports surgery and radiotherapy of primary EC, and systemic chemotherapy for prolonging survival among EC patients with bone metastasis, which lays a solid foundation for defining optimal treatment strategy in this specific cohort.

Endometrial cancer-is our knowledge changing?

In developed countries, endometrial cancer (EC) is the most frequent gynecologic malignancy in postmenopausal women. At the same time, EC has become one of the most common cancers in numerous developing countries, probably influenced by global epidemic of obesity. The majority of patients have low-grade endometrioid cancer with a high 5-year survival rate, but with high-risk EC, the survival rates are still rather low. However, despite intensive research in last decades, our knowledge of the mechanisms, risk factors, diagnosis and treatment have not significantly improved. The standard treatment of all types of EC is still a traditional combination of surgery, irradiation and/or chemotherapy, despite the fact that each of these options is not without having some negative side effects. Despite the fact that on the molecular level, EC is relatively well-studied, but the efforts to transform these findings into either diagnosis or therapies of EC remain elusive. In addition, some research into risk factors involved in the development or progression of EC seems to be more a fishing expedition than a well thought-out approach. The purpose of this review is to summarize the most recent developments in the search for biomarkers and prognostic markers and to discuss the progress in EC treatment.