Lymph node metastasis and lymph vascular space invasion in microinvasive squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix

The objective of this study was to determine whether the depth of invasion was related to lymph vascular space invasion (LVSI) and lymph node metastasis and whether there was a correlation between LVSI and lymph node metastasis in stage IA cervical cancer. The medical records, including surgical notes and pathologic reports, of 202 patients with microinvasive squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix were reviewed retrospectively. There was a positive correlation between the depth of invasion and the LVSI, and the incidence of lymph node metastasis was slightly higher than those reported hitherto for stage IA1 cervical cancer, especially in the depth of invasion of 1-3 mm group. However, among four patients with lymph node metastasis, only two patients had positive LVSI. There was no definite correlation between LVSI and lymph node metastasis. LVSI could not identify the patients with high risk for lymph node metastasis.