Evaluation of the intraoperative human papillomavirus test as a marker of early cure at 12 months after electrosurgical excision procedure in women with cervical high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion: a prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if the intraoperative human papillomavirus (IOP-HPV) test has the same prognostic value as the HPV test performed at 6 months after treatment of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) to predict treatment failure. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Barcelona, Spain. POPULATION: A cohort of 216 women diagnosed with HSIL and treated with loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). METHODS: After LEEP, an HPV test was performed using the Hybrid Capture 2 system. If this was positive, genotyping was performed with the CLART HPV2 technique. The IOP-HPV test was compared with HPV test at 6 months and with surgical margins. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Treatment failure. RESULTS: Recurrence rate of HSIL was 6%. There was a strong association between a positive IOP-HPV test, a positive 6-month HPV test, positive HPV 16 genotype, positive surgical margins and HSIL recurrence. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the IOP-HPV test were 85.7, 80.8,24.0 and 98.8% and of the HPV test at 6 months were 76.9, 75.8, 17.2 and 98.0%. CONCLUSION: Intraoperative HPV test accurately predicts treatment failure in women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2/3. This new approach may allow early identification of patients with recurrent disease, which will not delay the treatment. Genotyping could be useful in detecting high-risk patients. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: IOP-HPV test accurately predicts treatment failure in women with CIN 2/3.

Comparison of robotic-assisted vs conventional laparoscopy for extraperitoneal paraaortic lymphadenectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the perioperative outcomes of robotic-assisted extraperitoneal paraaortic lymphadenectomy for locally advanced cervical cancer and to compare to a previous series of patients from our institution undergoing the same procedure by conventional laparoscopy. METHODS: 17 patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (FIGO stages IB2, IIA2 and IIB-IVA) underwent pretherapeutic extraperitoneal paraaortic lymphadenectomy by robotic-assisted laparoscopy. Perioperative outcomes including age, BMI, FIGO stage, operating time, blood loss, complications and length of hospital stay were compared to a series of 83 patients from our institution undergoing the same procedure by conventional laparoscopy. RESULTS: The median values for operating time and hospital days for the robotic-assisted and conventional laparoscopy groups were 150 vs. 150 min and 2 vs 2 days, respectively. In the robotic group, blood loss was lower (90 vs 20 ml, p<0.05) and more aortic nodes were removed (14 vs 17 nodes, p<0.05). Docking time was 7 min (range 3-15). There were no intraoperative complications. There were no differences for postoperative complications (17.6% vs 8.4%). CONCLUSION: Robotic-assisted and conventional laparoscopy provide similar perioperative outcomes other than lower blood loss and higher number of aortic nodes removed (both without clinical impact) in robotic patients for the performance of extraperitoneal paraaortic lymphadenectomy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. We believe that robotic surgery is an additional tool to perform the same surgical procedure. HIGHLIGHTS: Robotic-assisted and conventional laparoscopic extraperitoneal paraaortic lymphadenectomy provide similar perioperative outcomes.

Location of aortic node metastases in locally advanced cervical cancer.

BACKGROUND: To assess the location of aortic node metastasis in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer undergoing extraperitoneal aortic lymphadenectomy to define the extent of the aortic lymphadenectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between August 2001 and December 2010, 100 consecutive patients with primary locally advanced cervical cancer underwent extraperitoneal laparoscopic aortic and common iliac lymphadenectomy. The location of aortic node metastases, inframesenteric or infrarenal was noted. RESULTS: The mean number±standard deviation (SD) of aortic nodes removed was 15.9 ± 7.8 (range 4-62). The mean number ± SD of inframesenteric (including common iliac) nodes removed was 8.8 ± 4.5 (range 2-41) and the mean number ± SD of infrarenal nodes removed was 7.8 ± 4.1 (range 2-21). Positive aortic nodes were observed in 16 patients, and in 5 (31.2%) of them the infrarenal nodes were the only nodes involved, with negative inframesenteric nodes. CONCLUSION: Inframesenteric aortic nodes are negative in the presence of positive infrarenal nodes in about one third of patients with locally advanced cervical cancer and aortic metastases.

Sentinel lymph node identification in a primary ductal carcinoma arising in the vulva.

Primary or metastatic breast-like carcinoma of the vulva is a rare event. Because of the similarity with breast ductal carcinoma, we think that the same principles used for treatment of orthotopic breast cancer can be applied, as well as the use of sentinel lymph node technique, which is widely accepted in the management of early-stage breast cancer. We report a 49-old-year postmenopausal woman who was referred to our institution after small biopsy of a 3.5- x 3-cm right vulvar tumor. Histopathologically, infiltration of the vulvar dermis by a ductal carcinoma of mammary gland type was reported. At operation, the sentinel node technique revealed two sentinel nodes in the right inguinal area. Although these nodes proved negative for malignancy, the patient underwent wide local excision of tumor and complete ipsilateral inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy. The remaining excised nodes were negative. Surgical specimen proved estrogen- and progesterone-positive receptors, the reason for which the patient received tamoxifen adjuvant therapy. This report represents the first case in the world literature of primary breast carcinoma arising in the vulva in which sentinel lymph node identification has been possible. Because of the rarity of this condition, the pathologic similarity of this tumor along with currently accepted guidelines for the management of breast cancer supports the possibility of local excision and sentinel lymph node identification as a possible alternative to inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy.