title: Effect of number of retrieved lymph nodes on prognosis in FIGO stage IB-IIA cervical cancer patients treated with primary radical surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In the treatment of cervical cancer, the extent of lymphadenectomy is a matter of debate. The goal of the current study was to examine the question of whether the number of retrieved lymph nodes (RLN) can influence survival of patients with early stage cervical cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of 180 FIGO stage IB-IIA cervical cancer patients treated with primary radical surgery were reviewed. Patients were divided into two groups: those with ≤ 40 RLN and those with > 40 RLN. Patients were also assigned to either the bulky (tumor size > 4 cm) cervical cancer group or the non-bulky (tumor size ≤ 4 cm) cervical cancer group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of RLN had a statistically significant effect on both disease-free survival (P = 0.04) and overall survival (P = 0.02) of all patients. Patients with > 40 RLN had better prognoses than those with ≤ 40 RLN. In the bulky cervical cancer group, the number of RLN was an independent prognostic factor. In multivariate analysis for the bulky cervical cancer group, > 40 RLN had a significant positive effect on disease-free survival (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.36; 95% confidence interval, 0.13-0.97) and overall survival (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.23; 95% confidence interval, 0.06-0.90). However, number of RLN was not an independent prognostic factor in the non-bulky cervical cancer group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A more extensive lymphadenectomy increased the survival of bulky cervical cancer patients. This finding may be helpful in determining surgical extent before surgery for cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Soyi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyungjoo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seungho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kwangbeom
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jinwoo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Donghae
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chanyong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: lymph node excision; lymph nodes; prognosis; uterine cervical neoplasms