OBJECTIVE: The "intermediate-risk" (IR) group of early-stage cervical cancer patients is characterized by negative pelvic lymph nodes and a combination of tumor-related prognostic risk factors such as tumor size ≥2 cm, lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), and deep stromal invasion. However, the role of adjuvant treatment in these patients remains controversial. We investigated whether adjuvant (chemo)radiation is associated with a survival benefit after radical surgery in patients with IR cervical cancer. METHODS: We analyzed data from patients with IR cervical cancer (tumor size 2-4 cm plus LVSI OR tumor size >4 cm; N0; no parametrial invasion; clear surgical margins) who underwent primary curative-intent surgery between 2007 and 2016 and were retrospectively registered in the international multicenter Surveillance in Cervical CANcer (SCCAN) study. RESULTS: Of 692 analyzed patients, 274 (39.6%) received no adjuvant treatment (AT-) and 418 (60.4%) received radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy (AT+). The 5-year disease-free survival (83.2% and 80.3%; PDFS = 0.365) and overall survival (88.7% and 89.0%; POS = 0.281) were not significantly different between the AT- and AT+ groups, respectively. Adjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy was not associated with a survival benefit after adjusting for confounding factors by case-control propensity score matching or in subgroup analyses of patients with tumor size ≥4 cm and <4 cm. In univariable analysis, adjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy was not identified as a prognostic factor in any of the subgroups (full cohort: PDFS = 0.365; POS = 0.282). CONCLUSION: Among patients with IR early-stage cervical cancer, radical surgery alone achieved equal disease-free and overall survival rates to those achieved by combining radical surgery with adjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy.

• Keywords
• Adjuvant treatment, Cervical cancer, GOG criteria, Intermediate risk, Radial surgery, Radiotherapy,
• MeSH
• Radiotherapy, Adjuvant MeSH
• Hysterectomy MeSH
• Combined Modality Therapy MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Uterine Cervical Neoplasms * pathology   MeSH
• Prognosis MeSH
• Retrospective Studies MeSH
• Neoplasm Staging MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Multicenter Study MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

BACKGROUND: In cervical cancer, presence of lymph-node macrometastases (MAC) is a major prognostic factor and an indication for adjuvant treatment. However, since clinical impact of micrometastases (MIC) and isolated tumor-cells (ITC) remains controversial, we sought to identify a cut-off value for the metastasis size not associated with negative prognosis. METHODS: We analyzed data from 967 cervical cancer patients (T1a1L1-T2b) registered in the SCCAN (Surveillance in Cervical CANcer) database, who underwent primary surgical treatment, including sentinel lymph-node (SLN) biopsy with pathological ultrastaging. The size of SLN metastasis was considered a continuous variable and multiple testing was performed for cut-off values of 0.01-1.0 mm. Disease-free survival (DFS) was compared between N0 and subgroups of N1 patients defined by cut-off ranges. RESULTS: LN metastases were found in 172 (18%) patients, classified as MAC, MIC, and ITC in 79, 54, and 39 patients, respectively. DFS was shorter in patients with MAC (HR 2.20, P = 0.003) and MIC (HR 2.87, P < 0.001), while not differing between MAC/MIC (P = 0.484). DFS in the ITC subgroup was neither different from N0 (P = 0.127) nor from MIC/MAC subgroups (P = 0.449). Cut-off analysis revealed significantly shorter DFS compared to N0 in all subgroups with metastases ≥0.4 mm (HR 2.311, P = 0.04). The significance of metastases <0.4 mm could not be assessed due to limited statistical power (<80%). We did not identify any cut-off for the size of metastasis with significantly better prognosis than the rest of N1 group. CONCLUSIONS: In cervical cancer patients, the presence of LN metastases ≥0.4 mm was associated with a significant negative impact on DFS and no cut-off value for the size of metastasis with better prognosis than N1 was found. Traditional metastasis stratification based on size has no clinical implication.

• Keywords
• Cervical cancer, Classification, Disease-free survival, Histopathological ultrastaging, Isolated tumor cells, Low volume metastasis, Macrometastasis, Micrometastasis, Prognosis, Sentinel lymph node,
• MeSH
• Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Lymphatic Metastasis pathology   MeSH
• Lymph Nodes pathology   MeSH
• Neoplasm Micrometastasis pathology   MeSH
• Uterine Cervical Neoplasms * surgery   pathology   MeSH
• Breast Neoplasms * pathology   MeSH
• Sentinel Lymph Node * pathology   MeSH
• Neoplasm Staging MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH