The prognostic value of the presence of pelvic and/or para-aortic lymph node metastases in cervical cancer patients; the influence of the new FIGO classification (stage IIIC).

INTRODUCTION: One of the major changes in the revised (2018) FIGO-staging system is the addition of stage IIIC to the previously used 2009 system. We evaluated the prognostic value of positive pelvic and/or para-aortic lymph nodes in patients with cervical cancer. METHODS: A nationwide retrospective cohort study was performed by analyzing data from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. All patients newly diagnosed with stage IB-IVA between 2005 and 2018 were identified. Three-year, 5-year and 15-year overall survival (OS) rates were estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Of the included 6082 patients, 1740 patients (29%) had pelvic and/or para-aortic lymph node metastases. For patients with FIGO 2009 stage IB-IB1-IIA-IIA1 and stage IB2-IIA2-IIB with pelvic and/or para-aortic lymph node metastases the OS was significantly different (p < 0.001 and p = 0.009), with a 5-year OS of 77% and 67%, compared with 92% and 74% for women without lymph node metastases. For FIGO 2009 stage IIIA-IIIB-IVA with and without lymph node metastases, survival rates are not significantly different (p = 0.064). For FIGO 2018 stage IIIC the 3y-OS, 5y-OS and 15-year OS are 72%, 65% and 59% respectively. Survival rates of IIIC diagnosed based on imaging (IIICr) are significantly impaired compared to stage IIIC diagnosed based on pathology (IIICp) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with FIGO 2009 stage IB-IIB cervical cancer with pelvic and/or para-aortic lymph node metastases have significantly impaired survival compared to patients without metastases. Survival rates of patients with FIGO 2009 stage IIIA-IVA are not affected by lymph node metastases.

Abdominal radical trachelectomy versus chemotherapy followed by vaginal radical trachelectomy in stage 1B2 (FIGO 2018) cervical cancer. A systematic review on fertility and recurrence rates.

INTRODUCTION: There is currently no standard of care for women with cervical cancer stage IB2 (FIGO 2018, ≥2 cm and <4 cm in greatest dimension) who wish to preserve their fertility. Generally, two approaches are offered. Option 1: neoadjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy (NACT) to reduce the tumor size to ≤ 2 cm, followed by Vaginal Radical Trachelectomy (VRT) with Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection (PLND) either before chemotherapy or at the time of VRT. Option 2: Abdominal Radical Trachelectomy (ART) with PLND. OBJECTIVE: To compare rates of fertility, pregnancy, life births as well as recurrence for women with cervical cancer stage IB2 treated with either NACT followed by VRT, or ART. METHODS: A systematic review was performed using the PubMed database. Articles reporting the search term 'trachelectomy' as text word or as Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) were identified. RESULTS: Ten studies were identified with a total of 338 patients. After NACT followed by VRT 39% of the women tried to conceive, 70% of these women got pregnant, of which 63% resulted in a life birth. The overall recurrence and death rate were 10% and 2.9% respectively. After ART 40% of the women tried to conceive, 21% of these women got pregnant, which resulted in a life birth rate of 42%. Recurrence and death rate after ART were 6.9%, and 3.4% respectively. CONCLUSION: Women with cervical cancer stage IB2 and a wish to preserve fertility treated with NACT followed by VRT have a significantly higher chance of pregnancy than women treated with ART, with comparative oncological results.