Impact of adjuvant treatments and risk factors on survival in 2023 FIGO stage IIB endometrial cancer patients: Turkish Gynecologic Oncology Group Study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of adjuvant treatments, factors influencing recurrence, and survival data in patients with 2023 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIB endometrial cancer. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with endometrial cancer who underwent surgery between 2005 and 2022 at seven different centers in Turkey. Demographic, clinicopathological, and survival data were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Among 7323 patients, 565 (7.7%) were classified as 2023 FIGO stage IIB based on pathological results. Of 565 patients, 214 were followed without receiving adjuvant treatment, while 335 (95.4%) received adjuvant radiotherapy, and 16 (4.6%) received radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The locoregional recurrence rate was higher in patients with a tumor size >4 cm (p=0.038) and myometrial invasion >50% (p=0.045). In patients with distant metastasis, the recurrence rate was lower in those with myometrial invasion <50% compared with myometrial invasion ≥50% (p=0.031). The impact of adjuvant treatment on endometrial cancer patients revealed no significant differences for both disease free survival (p=0.85) and overall survival (p=0.54). Subgroup analyses showed that in patients with deep myometrial invasion, adjuvant treatment was associated with a significant increase in overall survival (p=0.044), but there was no effect on disease-free survival (p=0.12). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with stage IIB endometrial cancer with myometrial invasion ≥50% were more likely to have locoregional and distant metastases. Adjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy did not demonstrate an overall survival benefit in these patients.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy with carbon dye in endometrial cancer: a single center, prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Many agents have been used for the detection of sentinel lymph nodes in endometrial cancer. Carbon dye, which has a strong staining ability and high contrast due to its dark black color, identifies the lymph nodes efficiently. Our aim was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of carbon dye for the detection of sentinel lymph nodes in endometrial cancer. METHODS: We conducted a single-center, prospective, cohort study in 89 patients with early-stage endometrial cancer between September 2021 and August 2022. The procedure was performed under laparoscopy. RESULTS: The sensitivity and negative predictive value of the sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) with carbon dye injection were 83.3% and 98.8%, respectively. Mapping identified at least one sentinel lymph node in 84 patients (94.4%) on one pelvic side and at least one sentinel lymph node in 73 patients (82.0%) on each pelvic side out of 89 patients. In addition, no carbon dye-associated allergic reaction was detected. CONCLUSION: Carbon dye is a non-allergenic, inexpensive, and effective agent for SLNB with a satisfying sensitivity and a negative predictive value. In addition, both unilateral and bilateral detection rates were sufficient. Accordingly, carbon dye may be a promising tracer and a considerable option, particularly for low-income countries.

Central nervous system metastasis in gynecologic cancers: Seeking the prognostic factors.

OBJECTIVE: Central nervous system (CNS) metastasis originating from gynecological cancer is a very rare and late manifestation of the disease. Therefore, there is still limited data on prognostic factors for survival. The objective of the present study is to identify prognostic factors for survival in patients with CNS metastasis originating from gynecological cancer. STUDY DESIGN: The present retrospective study analyzed the patients with gynecological cancers who were treated due to CNS metastases between January 1999 and December 2019 at Istanbul University Hospital. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients with CNS metastasis of gynecological origin were included in the study. The median age at the time of CNS metastasis was 59 (range 34-93). The median time from initial cancer diagnosis to CNS metastasis was 24.9 (range: 0-108.2) months. Most patients had epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) (76.6%), followed by endometrial cancer (EC) (14.8%), cervical cancer (CC) (4.3%), and vulvar cancer (VC) (4.3%). By multivariate analysis, the presence of extracranial metastasis (HR: 5.10; 95% CI: 1.71-15.18), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≥3 (HR: 2.92; 95% CI: 1.36-6.26), palliative care only for the treatment of CNS metastasis (HR: 1.47; 95% CI: 0.58-4.11), and treatment-free interval (TFI) <6 months (HR: 2.74; 95% CI: 1.23-6.08) were independent factors that associated with worse survival. CONCLUSION: Patients with CNS metastasis who have favorable prognostic factors are considered to be appropriate candidates for aggressive and long-term treatment strategies. Extracranial metastasis, ECOG performance status, treatment history of CNS metastasis, and TFI were determined as independent prognostic factors that improved survival. TFI might be taken into account as a prognostic factor for patients with CNS metastasis in gynecological cancer.

Predictors of high-grade residual disease after repeat conization in patients with positive surgical margins.

OBJECTIVES: No consensus exists on the subsequent management strategy of patients who exhibit positive surgical margin (PSM) after re-excision of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). The aim of the study is to examine the predictors related to the persistence of high-grade CIN lesions after re-excision, where PSM was left behind. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present retrospective study included patients with PSM who underwent repeated conization due to residual high-grade CIN lesions between January 2005 and December 2019. The SPSS software v20.0 was used for data interpretation and statistical analysis. P values less than 0.05 were accepted as statistically significant. RESULTS: Repeat conization was performed in 91 patients, 43 (47.3%) presented with PSM with high-grade CIN, 6 (6.5%) presented with micro-invasive carcinoma, and 42 (46.2%) presented with clear surgical margin or CIN 1 at the surgical margin. At the time of conization, patients who presented with lesions > 5 mm in repeat cone specimens, exhibited a significantly higher rate of residual disease (p < 0.001). Besides, the involvement of the endocervical margin with high-grade CIN was the predictor of residual disease in repeat cone specimens (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: In the cone specimen, the presence of lesion size greater than 5 mm and involvement of the endocervical margin were the predictors of high-grade residual disease after re-excision. Whether it is the first or second procedure, great care must be given to excise the lesion entirely at the time of the conization, preferably in one piece.

The effect of adenomyosis on endometrial cancer: a university hospital-based cohort study.

Endometrial cancer (EC) can coexist with gynaecological diseases including adenomyosis which can be defined as the location of endometrial cells within the myometrium. Our aim was to clarify the impact of adenomyosis on the clinical and survival outcomes of EC. We included the patients who underwent an operation for EC and had concurrent adenomyosis in this retrospective cohort study. All clinicodemographical and tumour characteristics with survival outcomes of the patients were analysed comparatively. A total of 763 patients who met the eligibility criteria were included. Of those, 591 patients in the non-adenomyosis group and 172 patients in the adenomyosis group were examined. Disease-specific survival (DSS) was significantly prolonged while progression-free survival (PFS) was not affected by the presence of adenomyosis (p = .004 vs. p = .161). However, adenomyosis did not remain as an independent prognostic factor for EC in multivariate analysis (p = .341). These patients with coexistent adenomyosis and EC have better clinicopathological characteristics and less advanced tumour. Although adenomyosis is associated with prolonged DSS, it has no prognostic importance for survival outcomes of the patients with EC.IMPACT STATEMENTWhat is already known on this subject? Endometrial cancer (EC) can coexist with other gynaecological diseases including uterine adenomyosis. Adenomyosis is typically diagnosed by the pathological evaluation of the uterus following hysterectomy, although diagnosis is possible with imaging methods However, the coexistence of adenomyosis and EC is controversial in the literature.What do the results of this study add? To the best of our knowledge, our study is the largest study performed at a single university hospital. All potential confounding factors including clinicodemographical characteristics of the patients, examination of histopathology slides by the experienced gynaecological pathologists, evaluation of all included factors that may affect the survival outcomes of EC by multivariate analysis were examined. Although adenomyosis is associated with prolonged disease-specific survival (DSS), it has no prognostic importance for survival outcomes of the patients with EC.What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Women having coexistent adenomyosis and EC should be informed about the impact of adenomyosis on the survival outcomes of EC.

A Retrospective Clinical Analysis of Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy in Gynecological Cancers: Technical Details, Tolerability, and Efficacy.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to reveal the results of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC procedure) performed during cytoreductive surgery (CRS) in patients with endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer which included mainly platinum-resistant patients. METHOD: Patients who underwent CRS+HIPEC between May 2015 and January 2020 were evaluated retrospectively. Surgical complications were graded according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. RESULTS: A total of 33 CRS+HIPEC procedures were performed in 32 patients, two of whom had recurrent endometrial cancer. Of the 30 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), five underwent interval CRS+HIPEC, and remaining 25 patients underwent secondary CRS+HIPEC treatment due to relapsed disease. Eighteen of the patients with relapsed disease were platinum-resistant. The overall operative mortality and severe morbidity rates were %3 and 12%, respectively. For 30 patients with EOC, during a median follow-up period of 15 months, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed a 1-year OS and PFS rates of 69.7% and 30.3%, respectively. Moreover, in the subgroup analysis of the platinum-resistant cohort, median OS and PFS were 14 and five months, respectively. CONCLUSION: CRS+HIPEC procedures had acceptable severe morbidity and mortality rates. In addition, patients with recurrent EOC and without a visible residual disease at the end of cytoreductive surgery had, though not statistically significant, longer OS . HIPEC administration during CRS was not associated with adverse outcomes in the platinum-resistant EOC cohort. The short-term results of the current study are promising.