Radical hysterectomy in early cervical cancer in Europe: characteristics, outcomes and evaluation of ESGO quality indicators.

INTRODUCTION: Comprehensive updated information on cervical cancer surgical treatment in Europe is scarce. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate baseline characteristics of women with early cervical cancer and to analyze the outcomes of the ESGO quality indicators after radical hysterectomy in the SUCCOR database. METHODS: The SUCCOR database consisted of 1272 patients who underwent radical hysterectomy for stage IB1 cervical cancer (FIGO 2009) between January 2013 and December 2014. After exclusion criteria, the final sample included 1156 patients. This study first described the clinical, surgical, pathological, and follow-up variables of this population and then analyzed the outcomes (disease-free survival and overall survival) after radical hysterectomy. Surgical-related ESGO quality indicators were assessed and the accomplishment of the stated recommendations was verified. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 47.1 years (SD 10.8), with a mean body mass index of 25.4 kg/m2 (SD 4.9). A total of 423 (36.6%) patients had a previous cone biopsy. Tumor size (clinical examination) <2 cm was observed in 667 (57.7%) patients. The most frequent histology type was squamous carcinoma (794 (68.7%) patients), and positive lymph nodes were found in 143 (12.4%) patients. A total of 633 (54.8%) patients were operated by open abdominal surgery. Intra-operative complications occurred in 108 (9.3%) patients, and post-operative complications during the first month occurred in 249 (21.5%) patients, with bladder dysfunction as the most frequent event (119 (10.3%) patients). Clavien-Dindo grade III or higher complication occurred in 56 (4.8%) patients. A total of 510 (44.1%) patients received adjuvant therapy. After a median follow-up of 58 months (range 0-84), the 5-year disease-free survival was 88.3%, and the overall survival was 94.9%. In our population, 10 of the 11 surgical-related quality indicators currently recommended by ESGO were fully fulfilled 5 years before its implementation. CONCLUSIONS: In this European cohort, the rate of adjuvant therapy after radical hysterectomy is higher than for most similar patients reported in the literature. The majority of centers were already following the European recommendations even 5 years prior to the ESGO quality indicator implementations.

Robot-assisted Surgery in Gynecologic Cancers.

Robotic-assisted surgery is a technological advancement that facilitates the application of minimally invasive techniques for complex operations in gynecologic oncology. The objective of this article was to review the literature regarding the role of robotic-assisted surgery to treat women with gynecologic cancers. The majority of publications on robotic surgery are still retrospective or descriptive in nature; however, the data for managing patients with a robotic-assisted approach show comparable, and at times improved, outcomes compared with both laparoscopy (2-dimensional) and laparotomy approaches. Robotic-assisted surgery has been used for patients with endometrial cancer and resulted in the increased use of minimally invasive surgery with improved outcomes compared with laparotomy and partially with laparoscopy. This has been shown in large cohorts of patients as well as in obese patients in whom the complication rates have significantly decreased. For early cervical cancer, robotic radical hysterectomy seems to be safe and feasible and to be preferable to laparotomy with seemingly comparable oncologic outcomes. Robotic-assisted surgery and conventional laparoscopy to stage women with early-stage ovarian cancer seem to have similar surgical and oncologic outcomes, with a shorter learning curve for robotic-assisted surgery. However, robotic-assisted surgery appears to be more expensive than laparotomy and traditional laparoscopy. In conclusion, robotic-assisted surgery appears to facilitate the surgical approach for complex operations to treat women with gynecologic cancers. Although randomized controlled trials are lacking to further elucidate the equivalence of robot-assisted surgery with conventional methods in terms of oncologic outcome and patients' quality of life, the technology appears to be safe and effective and could offer a minimally invasive approach to a much larger group of patients.

Robotic Surgery in Women With Ovarian Cancer: Surgical Technique and Evidence of Clinical Outcomes.

Robotic surgery is a new technology that has been progressively implemented to treat endometrial and cervical cancer. However, the use of robotic surgery for ovarian cancer is limited to a few series of cases and comparative studies with laparoscopy or laparotomy. The technical issues concerning robotic surgery, as well as clinical evidence, are described in this review. Robotic surgery in early stage, advanced stage, and relapsed ovarian cancer is discussed separately. In conclusion, evidence regarding the use of robotic-assisted surgical treatment for women with ovarian cancer is still scarce, but its use is progressively growing. Robotic-assisted staging in selected patients with early stage disease has an important role in referral institutions when well-trained gynecologists perform surgeries. However, minimally invasive surgery in patients with advanced stage or relapsed ovarian cancer requires further investigation, even in selected cases.

Preservation of ovarian function, reproductive ability and emotional attitudes in patients with malignant ovarian tumors.

OBJECTIVES: Although cancer is predominantly a disease of aging, an increasing number of women survive malignancies before or during their reproductive years, which may interfere with their fertility potential. Although a variety of studies have tried to document the impact of conservative treatment aimed at preserving ovarian function and reproductive ability, little information has been available regarding survivors' attitudes, emotions, and choices to have children. The aim of this study is to evaluate the reproductive history, experiences, attitudes, and emotions with regard to having children in conservatively treated patients with Stage I epithelial ovarian cancer, any stage LMP tumors, malignant ovarian germ cell tumors (MOGCTs) and Stage I sex cord-stromal tumors (SCSTs). STUDY DESIGN: Between 1986 and 2000, a total of 75 patients with primary malignant ovarian tumors underwent conservative treatment. Out of 75 patients in the study, 14 women (19%) presented Stage I epithelial ovarian cancer, 23 (31%) LMP tumors, 33 (43%) MOGCTs, and five (7%) SCSTs. Information was obtained from medical records and from a questionnaire mailed to all patients who were at least 15 years old at the time of the diagnosis (68 subjects). Median time of follow-up was 102 months (35-192 months). There were four (5.2%) clinical recurrences within 35 months. Only 20 patients (49%) had tried to conceive after the completion of their treatment; of these, 15 women (75%) succeeded and delivered 19 healthy children. Seventy percent (32/41) of the respondents claimed that their disease did not have any impact on their desire to have children. Whereas 51% (21/41) fear that their ovarian disease could have damaged their reproductive potential, 76% (31/41) are not concerned about the effects of the treatment they received on offspring. The impact of the disease on the patients' attitudes toward life was reported as positive. CONCLUSION: The results from our study, in agreement with the data from the literature, confirm that management of Stage I (grade 1, grade 2) epithelial ovarian cancer, any stage LMP tumors, MOGCTs and Stage I SCSTs with fertility-sparing surgery is a safe, practicable treatment option. Though preliminary, this survey provides insight into the attitudes and experiences of young women ovarian cancer survivors regarding fertility.