Patterns of pelvic and paraaortic lymph node involvement in ovarian cancer

One hundred eighty patients with ovarian cancer underwent complete pelvic lymphadenectomy (n = 75) or pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy (n = 105). Twenty-one patients underwent a preoperative biopsy of the scalene lymph nodes. The incidence of positive lymph nodes was 24% in stage I (n = 37), 50% in stage II (n = 14), 74% in stage III (n = 114), and 73% in stage IV (n = 15). Of the 105 patients who underwent pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy, 13 (12%) had positive pelvic and negative paraaortic nodes and 10 (9%) had positive paraaortic and negative pelvic nodes. Positive scalene nodes were found in four patients (19%) later shown to have stage IV disease. One hundred forty patients were studied for number of involved nodes and node groups, size of nodal metastases, residual tumor, and survival. Of the 81 patients with positive nodes, most had only one or two positive node groups or one to three positive individual nodes. A few patients had seven to eight involved node groups with up to 44 positive nodes. Greater numbers of positive nodes were found in stage III than stage IV. The size of the largest nodal metastasis was not related to the clinical stage or survival, but did correlate with the number of positive nodes. Stage III patients with no residual tumor had a significantly lower rate of lymph node involvement than those with tumor residual (P less than 0.01). Actuarial 5-year survival rates of patients with stage III disease and no, one, or more than one positive nodes were 69, 58, and 28%, respectively.     

Is systematic scalene node biopsy in pretreatment evaluation of locally advanced cervical carcinoma necessary? Systematic dissection and histopathology of left scalene node biopsies in patients with locally advanced cervical carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: Cervical carcinomas mainly spread via lymphatics, stepwise from pelvic to aortic and scalenic lymph nodes. Metastatic nodes are the major prognostic factor in this disease. When scalenic nodes are involved, cervical cancer is considered to be disseminated. Since there is a major discrepancy in reported percentages of metastatic scalene nodes in the literature (0 to 50%), we proceeded to systematic pretreatment scalene node biopsy and then evaluated the validity of this procedure. METHODS: From January 1998 to May 2003, 72 patients with locally advanced cervical carcinoma and no suspicious paraaortic or scalenic nodes (respectively on magnetic resonance imaging and clinically) had a systematic surgical pretreatment lymph node evaluation (retroperitoneal laparoscopic infrarenal paraaortic lymph node dissection and left scalenic lymph node biopsy). Scalene biopsy was examined using hematoxylin/eosin stain and immunohistochemistry (KL1 antibodies). RESULTS: Among the 72 patients, 20 were stage IB2, 4 were IIA, 14 were IIB, 4 were IIIA, 27 were IIIB, 1 was IVA and 2 had a recurrent cervical carcinoma. Fourteen women had histologically confirmed paraaortic metastases (11 macroscopic, 3 microscopic). No metastatic involvement of the scalene nodes was detected. Fifteen patients developed a recurrence within 12 months (3 to 19 months). None of the patients developed scalenic recurrence. CONCLUSION: Left scalene node biopsy does not appear to be mandatory in routine pretherapeutic lymph node evaluation of patients with advanced cervical carcinoma and no clinical suspicious nodes. It may be useful to prove disseminated disease in patients with suspicious clinical nodes or hot spots on PET-scan, if fine needle biopsy is unconclusive.     

Risk of lymph node metastases in patients with ovarian cancer

AIM: The aim of this study was the assessment of incidence of the lymph node spread in patients with ovarian cancer. Additionally, some of clinical and histopathology factors, as well as patients age were analyzed in relation with lymph nodes metastases. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Based on 112 operations performed in patients with ovarian cancer FIGO stage I-IV, analysis of pelvic and paraaortic lymph node metastasis was carried out. In this group only in 70 patients paraaortic lymph nodes were removed. The rest of patients underwent pelvic lymphadenectomy only because of poor general condition or very intensive cytoreductive surgery. Statistical analysis was provided using unvaried regression test and Pearson test. RESULTS: In early stages of ovarian cancer (I and II) the percent of patients with involved lymph nodes was 17.4 and in advanced stages 37.9. Strong correlation between involvement of pelvic and paraaortic lymph nodes was seen. The most frequent localization of lymph node metastases was the site around intercrossing of left renal vein and aorta. It should be stressed that in 8 cases isolated paraaortic metastases were seen. Risk factors of lymph node metastases were clinical stage, tumor grade and age of patients. Clear cell carcinoma and mixed carcinoma had also prognostic significance. CONCLUSION: This analysis proved that incidence of lymph node metastases was high even in early stage, and therefore lymphadenectomy should be an integral part of standard surgical procedures in patients with ovarian cancer.     

Pretreatment scalene node biopsy in cervical carcinoma

To evaluate incidence of scalene node metastases from carcinoma of the cervix, 20 patients had scalene fat-pad node biopsy. All cases were staged according to FIGO criteria and abdominal lymph nodes were studied by CT and lymphangiography. Scalene node metastases were found in 2 patients with clinically suspicious node and pelvic and paraaortic nodes involvement. Seven patients had sinus histiocytosis in scalene node biopsy and this seems related to a more favourable prognosis. From this study it appears that scalene node biopsy is not a routine procedure and should be performed in all patients with palpable supraclavicular masses or when paraortic nodes are involved.     

The incidence and clinical significance of paraaortic lymph node metastases in patients with uterine cervical cancer

Paraaortic lymph node dissection was performed in the treatment of patients with carcinoma of the cervix who were subjected to radical hysterectomy between June, 1982 and March, 1988 at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan. Thirteen out of 246 (5.3%) patients had metastases in the paraaortic lymph node. Of the patients with stage I carcinoma of the cervix, 1.0 per cent had positive paraaortic lymph node. Of the patients with stage II carcinoma, 4.9 per cent had metastases in the paraaortic lymph nodes, and of the stage III patients, 16.7 per cent had positive paraaortic lymph nodes. The incidence of paraaortic node involvement increased along with the advance of the disease. Of the patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix, 4.6 per cent had paraaortic lymph node metastases. Of the patients with adenocarcinoma of the cervix including mixed carcinoma, 6.8 per cent had positive paraaortic node. All the patients with positive paraaortic lymph nodes had metastatic diseases in the pelvic nodes. In addition, the number of groups of positive pelvic nodes in the patients with positive paraaortic lymph nodes was significantly larger than that in those with negative paraaortic nodes. At the time of reporting, seven out of 13 patients with positive paraaortic lymph node have died of the disease. The mean survival period of those seven patients was 14.9 +/- 12.2 (mean +/- SD) months. Of the remaining six surviving patients, three have been doing well for more than three years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Endometrioid carcinoma of the ovary presenting with an enlarged inguinal lymph node without evidence of abdominal carcinomatosis.

It is generally recognized that ovarian cancer tends to remain intraabdominal even in advanced cases and that dissemination is usually by invasion of adjacent viscera, diffuse intraperitoneal implantation, and metastatic involvement of aortic and pelvic lymph nodes. Primary ovarian lymphatic drainage occurs via the infundibulopelvic ligament to the paraaortic nodes. The presence of an ovarian tumor extending into adjacent pelvic viscera may allow direct lymphatic continuity with inguinal, external, and common iliac lymph nodes. In the absence of such extension it is traditionally believed that the drainage via the infundibulopelvics is so important that only with its blockage, presumably by tumor emboli, can retrograde drainage to pelvic and inguinal nodes occur. We report a case of a patient presenting with a large metastatic inguinal lymph node from a primary epithelial ovarian cancer without evidence of disseminated intraabdominal disease or gross evidence of pelvic or paraaortic lymph node involvement.     

Inguinal lymph node metastasis as the only manifestation of lymphatic spread in ovarian cancer: A case report

OBJECTIVE: Inguinal metastasis is a rare manifestation of ovarian cancer. Autopsy studies have reported inguinal metastasis in 0-3% of patients with advanced disease. CASE REPORT: We describe a 43-year-old patient with ovarian cancer limited to the adnexa who had an isolated metastasis in an enlarged inguinal lymph node. The patient underwent total abdominal hysterectomy, omentectomy, pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy, and excision of the enlarged inguinal lymph node. All 78 pelvic and 40 paraaortic lymph nodes were negative. CONCLUSION: This case demonstrates that early isolated distant lymph node metastasis, although rare, can occur in patients with ovarian cancer and may be a presenting symptom.     

Scalene lymph node sampling in cervical carcinoma: a reappraisal

Scalene lymph node sampling to detect occult metastases from cervical carcinoma has been reported to have varying degrees of clinical utility. During the past 7 years at the Los Angeles County University of Southern California Medical Center, 17 scalene lymph node samplings were performed in patients with clinical stage IB to IIIB cervical carcinoma who had metastases to the paraaortic lymph nodes, negative chest X ray, and no clinical evidence of scalene/supraclavicular node metastases. Four of the patients were demonstrated on microscopic examination to have scalene lymph node metastases (23.5%). There were no serious complications related to this surgery. Patients with cervical carcinoma whose only extra pelvic site of metastases is the paraaortic modes should be considered for scalene lymph node sampling as part of their pretreatment evaluation, especially if extended-field radiation is contemplated.     

Retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis in patients with ovarian cancer

From 1979 to 1987 retroperitoneal lymph node dissection was performed at the Tokyo University Hospital in 41 cases (pelvic lymph node biopsy was done in 4 cases, pelvic lymphadenectomy in 23 cases, pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy up to the renal vessels in 14 cases) of Stage Ia to IV ovarian cancer following cytoreductive surgery. The incidence of retroperitoneal positive nodes was 11.1% (2/18) in Stage I, 50.0% (5/10) in Stage II, 50.0% (5/10) in Stage III and 0% (0/3) in Stage IV (FIGO criteria without considering the pathologic findings of retroperitoneal lymph nodes). The positive rate of lymph node involvement in Stage II and Stage III was significantly higher than that in Stage I. The tumors involving both ovaries were more likely to metastasize to retroperitoneal lymph nodes. Enlargement of tumors and increased ascites were not the risk factors of retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis. These data suggest that the occurrence of retroperitoneal lymphatic spread in ovarian cancer is comparable to that in uterine cancer and increased by involvement of both ovaries and extension to other pelvic tissues.     

Interstitial thermoradiotherapy in recurrent gynecologic malignancies

In patients with ovarian carcinoma, the presence of metastatic disease in a retroperitoneal lymph node is indicative of a poor prognosis. Although a “staging laparotomy” is required for proper treatment, definitive information concerning para-aortic and pelvic lymph node metastasis often is not available. To determine the incidence of retroperitoneal lymph node metastases in untreated cases of ovarian carcinoma, a prospective study by selective nodal biopsy was undertaken in 61 unselected patients with the following distribution: Stage I, 11; Stage II, 10; Stage III, 31; and Stage IV, 9. The incidence of para-aortic node metastasis overall was 37.7% and of pelvic node metastasis, 14.8%. Of 23 patients with positive para-aortic nodes, 30.4% had no concomitant pelvic node involvement. Direct relationships between nodal metastasis and clinical stage, tumor grade, and histologic type of tumor were demonstrated. The incidence of positive para-aortic nodes in Stage I disease was 18.2%; in Stage II, 20.0%; in Stage III, 41.9%; and in Stage IV, 66.7%. The corresponding incidence of pelvic node metastasis was 9.1% in Stage I, 10.0% in Stage II, 12.9% in Stage III, and 33.3% in Stage IV. Grade 3 tumors were associated most frequently with nodal involvement, with an incidence of positive para-aortic nodes of 52.5% and of positive pelvic nodes of 15.5%. In patients with a serous type of malignancy, the frequencies of positive para-aortic/pelvic nodes were 44.4%/16.7%, respectively; in the undifferentiated type, 50.0%/10.0%; in the clear cell type, 25.0%/25.0%; and in the mucinous type, 14.3%/ 14.3%. In this small series, 32 patients (52.5%) had positive retroperitoneal nodal involvement. It is concluded that selective biopsies of the para-aortic and pelvic lymph nodes should be part of any “staging laparotomy” for ovarian carcinoma, and that the true incidence of nodal involvement in these patients awaits further investigation.     

Lymph node metastasis in stage I epithelial ovarian cancer

OBJECTIVES: A relatively high incidence of para-aortic and pelvic lymph node metastasis is found in epithelial ovarian cancer. This paper investigates the clinicomorphological features of intra-abdominal stage I epithelial ovarian cancer that may predict the occurrence of lymph node metastasis and the prognosis of patients in whom lymph node metastases are identified. METHODS: From November 1988 to December 1997 we performed systematic para-aortic and pelvic lymphadenectomy as primary surgery in 47 patients with intra-abdominal stage I epithelial ovarian cancer. The incidence of lymph node metastasis in these patients and the clinicomorphological features of the patients with lymph node involvement were examined. RESULTS: Five patients (10.6%) were metastasis positive (IC: four; IA: one), of whom four had serous adenocarcinoma. Serous adenocarcinoma was associated with a significantly higher incidence of metastases than other histological types (P < 0.05). The number of positive lymph nodes was one in four patients and two in one patient, and the metastatic sites ranged from the para-aortic to the suprainguinal lymph nodes. All five metastasis-positive patients were alive and disease free at the time of this report (survival 28-85 months: median 59 months). CONCLUSION: This clinical study suggests that serous adenocarcinoma carries a high risk of lymph node metastasis, requiring systematic lymphadenectomy for accurate staging in intra-abdominal stage I epithelial ovarian cancer.     

Interest of pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy in patients with stage IB and II cervical carcinoma

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the interest and the potential therapeutic value of systematic pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy in patients with stage Ib and II cervical carcinoma. METHODS: This was a prospective study including 421 patients with cervical cancer treated, from 1985 to 1994, by combined radiation therapy and surgery with systematic pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy. RESULTS: The overall rate of pelvic lymph-node involvement was 26% (106 patients), and the rate of paraaortic metastases was 8% (32 patients). Pelvic nodal involvement was unilateral in 14% (59 patients) and bilateral in 11% (47 patients). Macroscopic positive nodes were found in 12% (52 patients). In a univariate analysis, a young age (<30 years), a tumor size >/=4 cm, stage II disease, and nodal involvement were associated with significantly decreased survival. The nodal status and the characteristics of positive nodes (number and location) were the most significant prognostic factors. In the multivariate analysis, age, the tumor size, and the site of nodal involvement (pelvic or paraaortic) were prognostic factors. Three-year survival was 94% for patients with negative nodes compared to 64% for patients with positive pelvic nodes and 35% for patients with positive paraaortic nodes (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: These results confirm the diagnostic and prognostic value of systematic complete lymphadenectomy when planning adjuvant treatment and the therapeutic value of complete removal of bulky positive nodes.     

What Staging Surgery Should Be Performed on Patients with Uterine Papillary Serous Carcinoma?

OBJECTIVE: While uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) is an aggressive histologic subtype, it fortunately is not as common as some other histologic subtypes. Overall, patients with UPSC have a poor survival rate. Since the optimal surgical procedure to perform on patients with this tumor is unknown, the authors wanted to determine what the optimal surgical management of patients with UPSC should be. METHODS: All patients with the preoperative or frozen section intraoperative diagnosis of UPSC were treated with a staging or cytoreductive procedure analogous to patients with serous carcinoma of the ovary. Patients analyzed underwent surgery from March 1983 to September 1995. RESULTS: Sixty-five patients with UPSC were found. Twenty patients had FIGO stage I tumors, 6 stage II tumors, 8 stage III tumors, and 31 stage IV tumors. Twenty-nine patients had upper abdominal disease (17 gross disease and 12 microscopic disease only). Forty-eight patients underwent pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy, with 6 of 48 having positive lymph nodes. All 14 patients with lymphovascular space invasion had stage IV disease. Thirty-one of sixty-five patients had positive cytology at the time of surgery. CONCLUSION: Based on the clinical experience of these investigators, patients with UPSC should undergo a staging laparotomy similar to the procedure undertaken for patients with ovarian carcinoma. The surgery should include at least partial omentectomy, total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, peritoneal washings, peritoneal biopsies, and pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy similar to an ovarian cancer staging procedure if no gross disease > or =2 cm is found at time of surgery. If disease > or =2 cm is found, cytoreduction should be undertaken when feasible.     

Metastatic serous borderline ovarian tumor in an internal mammary lymph node: a case report and review of the literature.

Background. Reports of supradiaphragmatic involvement of lymph nodes by serous borderline ovarian tumors are rare. Case. We describe the finding of metastatic tumor involving an internal mammary lymph node in a 74-year-old patient with serous borderline ovarian tumor. The positive lymph node was found incidentally during cardiac surgery 7 years after excision of the patient's serous borderline ovarian tumor. The incidence and significance of pelvic, paraaortic, and supradiaphragmatic lymph node involvement among women with borderline ovarian tumors is discussed. Conclusion. Supradiaphragmatic lymph node involvement can occur among women with serous borderline ovarian tumors. Borderline ovarian tumors should be included in the differential diagnosis of metastatic adenocarcinoma involving the supradiaphragmatic lymph nodes.     

Influence of diabetes mellitus and nodal distribution in endometrial cancer and correlation to clinico-pathological prognostic factors

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the relationships between the distribution of nodal disease, clinico-pathological patterns and recurrence and survival in surgically staged cases of endometrial cancer. METHODS: Charts were abstracted from patients with endometrial carcinoma from 1985 to 1995. Data on clinicopathologic variables, adjuvant treatment, site of recurrence and survival were collected. The chi square test was used to test associations between variables. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis and Cox's proportional hazards model for multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Sixty-nine out of 181 patients underwent lymph node dissection. Twenty-three had pelvic lymph node dissection, 23 underwent pelvic and paraaortic lymph node dissection and 20 patients had lymph node sampling. The median count of removed lymph nodes was 22.4. Fifty-four lymph node dissections showed negative lymph nodes and in 15 cases there was a minimum of one positive lymph node. Overall survival was in correlation to nodal involvement with a p value of 0.0017. Patients with lymph node involvement showed significantly more recurrence than patients with negative lymph nodes (p = 0.003). The depth of myometrial invasion correlated with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.01) and patients with additional diabetes mellitus showed significantly more nodal involvement (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Endometrial cancer showed pelvic lymph node (PLN) and paraaortic lymph node (PALN) involvement. Under-diagnosis of the disease might result if there was only a PLN, but with or without PALN involvement there was no significant difference in overall survival or recurrence. There was an univariate correlation between lymph node involvement and diabetes.     

Pelvic and aortic lymph node metastasis in epithelial ovarian cancer

OBJECTIVE: The appropriate management of advanced ovarian cancer has been controversial in recent years. There are no adequate data about the importance of lymphadenectomy and the appropriate sites for lymph node assessment. We sought to evaluate the distribution, size, and number of pelvic and aortic lymph node metastases in patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of 116 patients with stage IIIC or IV epithelial ovarian carcinoma treated at Mayo Clinic who underwent systematic bilateral pelvic and aortic lymphadenectomy between 1996 and 2000. RESULTS: Eighty-six (78%) of 110 patients who underwent pelvic lymphadenectomy were found to have nodal metastases in 422 (16%) of 2705 pelvic nodes that were removed. Eighty-four (84%) of 100 patients had documented aortic lymph node metastases in 456 (35%) of 1313 aortic nodes that were removed. Fifty-five (59%) of 94 patients had bilateral metastatic pelvic and aortic lymph nodes and bilateral aortic lymphadenectomy was conducted in 53 (72%) of 74 patients. The most representative group for detection of nodal metastases was the aortic group (83%) followed by the external iliac group (59%) and the obturator nodes (53%). There was no significant difference between the mean size of positive (1.8 cm) and negative nodes (1.6 cm). Thirty-seven patients had unilateral tumor, and 1 patient (7%) had contralateral node metastasis. CONCLUSION: The incidence of positive nodes bilaterally and positive high aortic nodes indicates the need for bilateral pelvic and aortic node dissection (extending above the inferior mesenteric artery) in all patients regardless of laterality of the primary tumor.     

Pattern of lymph node metastases in clinically unilateral stage I invasive epithelial ovarian carcinomas

PURPOSE: There is controversy regarding the pattern of lymphatic spread in unilateral stage I invasive ovarian carcinomas. The purpose of this study is to describe the incidence and distribution of lymph node (LN) metastases in ovarian carcinomas clinically confined to one ovary. METHODS: Ninety-six patients with disease visibly confined to one ovary were identified. Pathology reports were reviewed to identify metastatic LN involvement, number of involved nodes, and their locations. Patients with gross disease in the pelvis or abdomen or those who had grossly positive LNs removed for debulking were excluded from this review. RESULTS: Fourteen of ninety-six patients (15%) had microscopically positive LNs on pathologic review. All of these 14 patients had grade 3 tumors. Grade 3 tumors were more commonly seen in LN-positive versus LN-negative patients (P < 0.001). Pelvic nodes were positive in 7 patients (50%), paraaortic nodes in 5 patients (36%), and both in 2 patients (14%). Forty-two patients had LN sampling only on the side ipsilateral to the neoplastic ovary, 4 of whom (10%) had LN metastases. Fifty-four patients had bilateral sampling performed, 10 of whom (19%) had LN metastases. Of these 10 patients, isolated ipsilateral LN metastases were seen in 5 (50%) cases. Isolated contralateral LN metastases were seen in 3 (30%) cases, and bilateral metastases were seen in 2 (20%). CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of patients with clinical stage I ovarian carcinoma with disease limited to one ovary, bilateral LN sampling increased the identification of nodal metastases. Ipsilateral sampling may result in the understaging of patients. Bilateral pelvic and paraaortic LN sampling is recommended to accurately stage ovarian carcinoma.     

Lymph node metastasis in ovarian cancer: difference between serous and non-serous primary tumors

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the lymph node sites most susceptible to involvement relative to primary tumor histology in ovarian cancer. METHODS: The locations of metastatic lymph nodes were investigated in 208 patients with primary ovarian cancer who underwent systemic lymphadenectomy covering both the pelvic and para-aortic regions. RESULTS: Lymph node metastasis was present in 12.8% (20/156) of patients with stage I (pT1M0), 48.6% (18/37) with stage II (pT2M0), and 60% (9/15) with stage III (pT3M0) disease, thus in 22.6% (47/208) of all study patients. Isolated para-aortic nodal involvement was present in 23.3% (14/60) of patients with serous tumor and 4.1% (6/148) of those with non-serous tumor (P = 0.00002). In an analysis of 35 positive nodes from 25 patients with up to 3 positive nodes, 86.4% (19/22) of metastatic lymph nodes from patients with serous tumor were found in the para-aortic region, with 14 positive nodes located above the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) and 5 below it, whereas metastasis to para-aortic lymph nodes accounted for 53.8% (7/13) of metastatic lymph nodes from patients with non-serous tumor (P = 0.0334). CONCLUSIONS: The locations of metastatic lymph nodes in ovarian cancer depend upon the histologic type of the primary cancer. In cases of serous tumor, the para-aortic region, particularly above the IMA, is the prime site for the earliest lymph node metastasis. However, the likelihood of pelvic node involvement is almost equal to that of para-aortic node involvement in cases of non-serous tumor.     

Evaluation of cytoreductive surgery with pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy and intermittent cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy for improvement of long-term survival in ovarian cancer

The present study was designed in order to assess the therapeutic values of pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy in cytoreductive surgery and intermittent systematic chemotherapy combining cisplatin, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide, namely, intermittent PAC for improvement of the long-term prognosis of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Intermittent PAC was administered every 3 months over a period of approximately 2 years. One hundred and fifty-five patients with epithelial ovarian cancer were enrolled in the study. The estimated 10-year survival rate of 42 patients with stage I or II ovarian cancer who received pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy and the intermittent PAC was significantly higher than that of 31 patients with the same stages who did not (83.9% vs. 61.1%, p<0.05). Similarly, the estimated 10-year survival rate of 38 patients with stage III or IV ovarian cancer who underwent the above-mentioned treatments was significantly high compared with that of 44 patients in the same advanced stages who did not (60.4% vs. 25.0%, p<0.01). As for pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy, there was no significant difference in the estimated 10-year survival rates between patients with and without retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis. Multivariate analysis revealed that the performance of pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy was the most important factor leading successful clinical remission of the advanced ovarian cancers. Cytoreductive surgery including pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy and to intermittent PAC were thus suggested to be capable of dramatically improving the long-term survival even in advanced epithelial ovarian cancers.     

Carcinoma IB of the endometrium: spread and prognostic factors

The prognostic factors and their intercorrelation in 47 patients with IB endometrial cancer are presented. The data reveal the particular behaviour of the lymphatic involvement: five patients (10.6%) showed metastases to pelvic lymph nodes and six patients (12.8%) had paraaortic node metastases; altogether two women (4.2%) had histological evidence of involvement of pelvic and paraaortic nodes. Both histological grade and depth of myometrial invasion showed a characteristic relationship with the lymphatic spread: the percentage of lymph node metastases seems to bear relation to progression of myometrial penetration (M2-M3) and to histological differentiation (G2-G3).