Hazard Ratio Analysis of Laparoscopic Radical Hysterectomy for IA1 With LVSI-IIA2 Cervical Cancer: Identifying the Possible Contraindications of Laparoscopic Surgery for Cervical Cancer

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (LRH) and abdominal radical hysterectomy (ARH) for IA1 with lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI)-IIA2 cervical cancer and to analyze the Cox proportional hazard ratio (HR) of LRH among the total study population and different subgroups. Methods: This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study. The oncological outcomes of LRH (n = 4,236) and ARH (n = 9,177) were compared. The HRs and 95% confidence intervals for the effect of LRH on 5-year OS and DFS were estimated by Cox proportional hazards models. Results: Overall, there was no difference in DFS between LRH and ARH in the unadjusted analysis (HR 1.11, 95% CI: 0.99–1.25, p = 0.075). The risk-adjusted analysis revealed that LRH was independently associated with inferior DFS (HR 1.25, 95% CI: 1.11–1.40, p < 0.001). There was no difference in OS between the two groups in the unadjusted analysis (HR 1.00, 95% CI: 0.85–1.17, p = 0.997) or risk-adjusted analysis (HR 1.15, 95% CI: 0.98–1.35, p = 0.091). For patients with FIGO stage IB1 and tumor size <2 cm, LRH was not associated with lower DFS or OS (p = 0.637 or p = 0.107, respectively) in risk-adjusted analysis. For patients with FIGO stage IB1 and tumor size ≥2 cm, LRH was associated with lower 5-year DFS (HR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.19–1.69, p < 0.001) in risk-adjusted analysis, but it was not associated with lower 5-year OS (p = 0.107). For patients with FIGO stage IIA1 and tumor size <2 cm, LRH was not associated with lower 5-year DFS or OS (p = 0.954 or p = 0.873, respectively) in risk-adjusted analysis. For patients with FIGO stage IIA1 and tumor size ≥2 cm, LRH was associated with lower DFS (HR 1.48, 95% CI: 1.16–1.90, p = 0.002) and 5-year OS (HR 1.69, 95% CI: 1.22–2.33, p = 0.002) in risk-adjusted analysis. Conclusion: The 5-year DFS of LRH was worse than that of ARH for FIGO stage IA1 with LVSI-IIA2. LRH is not an appropriate option for FIGO stage IB1 or IIA1 and tumor size ≥ 2 cm compared with ARH.