The prognostic significance of lymph-vascular space invasion in stage I endometrial cancer.
Surgical specimens from 111 patients with Stage I endometrial cancer were reviewed for the presence of lymph-vascular space invasion by tumor cells. Lymph-vascular space invasion was noted in 16 cases, and occurred most frequently in poorly differentiated tumors with deep myometrial penetration. Tumor recurrence developed in 44% of patients whose tumors demonstrated lymph-vascular space invasion as opposed to only 2% of patients without this finding (p less than 0.001). Of seven patients with lymph-vascular space invasion who experienced tumor recurrence, five developed extra-pelvic metastases. Discriminant function analysis of these data revealed a statistically significant correlation between lymph-vascular space invasion and tumor recurrence, independent of histologic differentiation of myometrial penetration. These findings suggest that lymph-vascular space invasion by tumor cells is an important prognostic variable in Stage I endometrial cancer which should be considered in treatment planning.
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009215:Myometrium / Q000473:pathology; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010298:Parity; D011379:Prognosis; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy