title: Is complete surgical staging necessary in clinically early-stage endometrial carcinoma?
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of pelvic/para-aortic node metastases and the other pathological characteristics from medical records of patients with endometrial carcinoma treated at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand, between 1996 and 2005. The records of 213 patients with endometrial carcinoma who had complete surgical staging were reviewed. A particular focus was on clinically early-stage disease. Clinical staging could be determined in 206 patients. Of the 206 patients, 182 (88.3%) presented with clinical stage I disease. However, only 142 (78%) of these patients were confirmed as surgical stage I and 22% were upstaged. Preoperative histologic grade was diagnosed inaccurately in 15.9% of patients and 7.7% were upgraded. Of patients with preoperative histologic grade 1, 33% had deep myometrial invasion, 8.2% had pelvic node metastasis, and 3.3% had para-aortic node metastasis. Even in clinical stage IaG1, pelvic node metastasis occurred in 5.6% and para-aortic node metastasis in 1.3%. It has been suggested that complete surgical staging may not be necessary in patients with low-risk endometrial carcinoma who have disease limited to the uterus without grade 3 or deep myometrial invasion. However, proper selection of such low-risk patients remains problematic. In situations where there is limited preoperative and intraoperative assessment of high-risk factors, particularly radiographic imaging and frozen section assessment, the role of complete surgical staging is beneficial.
authors.affiliation: Gynecologic Oncology Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Nakarin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sirisabya
authors.forename: Tarinee
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Manchana
authors.forename: Pongkasem
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Worasethsin
authors.forename: Nipon
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khemapech
authors.forename: Ruangsak
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lertkhachonsuk
authors.forename: Tul
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sittisomwong
authors.forename: Apichai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vasuratna
authors.forename: Wichai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Termrungruanglert
authors.forename: Damrong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tresukosol
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D018450:Disease Progression; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies