Prognostic significance of residual lymph node status after definitive chemoradiotherapy in patients with node-positive cervical cancer

Objective

Lymph node involvement is an important prognostic factor in patients with cervical cancer. However, the prognostic significance of lymph node response to chemoradiotherapy remains unclear. We retrospectively analyzed the relationship between residual lymph node status after definitive chemoradiotherapy and survival.

Methods

We enrolled 117 patients with node-positive cervical cancer. All patients were treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy in our institution, from 2006 to 2016. The median follow-up period was 41 months (range, 6–128 months). The criterion for a positive lymph node was defined as a maximum short axis diameter of ≥ 8 mm on pretreatment magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/computed tomography (CT) scans. Posttreatment pelvic MRI was obtained 3 months after the completion of chemoradiotherapy. Residual primary tumor was defined as any residual lesion identified upon clinical examination and/or MRI. Residual lymph node was defined as any lymph node with a short axis diameter of ≥ 8 mm posttreatment, according to MRI/CT.

Results

At follow-up, 3 months after chemoradiotherapy, we observed residual primary tumor in 30 patients (25.6%), and residual lymph node in 31 patients (26.5%). The presence of residual lymph node was associated with worse overall survival according to multivariate analysis (hazard ratio, 3.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.43–6.44; p = 0.004). In the 5-year time-dependent ROC analysis of survival prediction, the presence of residual lymph node showed an AUC value of 0.72.

Conclusions

The presence of residual lymph node after chemoradiotherapy was associated with worse survival in patients with node-positive cervical cancer.