Factors affecting parametrial involvement in cervical cancer patients with tumor size ≤4 cm and selection of low-risk patient group

OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the factors affecting parametrial involvement in cervical cancer patients with tumor size ≤4 cm and selection of the low-risk patient group based on long-term oncologic outcomes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cervical cancer patients operated in the gynecologic oncology division between 2007 and 2013 were retrospectively evaluated. One-hundred and sixty-eight patients with tumor size ≤4 cm were identified. Of these, 159 (86.8%) underwent radical hysterectomy plus pelvic-para-aortic lymphadenectomy and nine (13.2%) underwent fertility-sparing surgery [radical trachelectomy (n=7); large conization (n=2)]. Factors affecting parametrial invasion, including lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), deep stromal invasion (DSI), lymph node metastases, and tumor size, were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 23.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). RESULTS: Median age was 49.5 years and median tumor size was 2.5 cm (0.45-4 cm). In both univariate and multivariate analyses, the risk of parametrial involvement was increased with LVSI with a hazard ratio (HR) of 3.45 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-10.8] and DSI with a HR of 4.1 (95% CI: 1.18-14.8), while tumor size of ≤2 cm was only significant in univariate analyses. Furthermore, 26 early-stage patients were identified with low-risk factors and they had no parametrial involvement, lymph node metastases, recurrence, or death from disease over 77 months. CONCLUSION: Parametrial involvement in low-risk cervical cancer is very rare and less radical procedures may be safe in these patients.