Sentinel lymph node mapping alone compared to more extensive lymphadenectomy in patients with uterine serous carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of our study was to assess survival among patients with uterine serous carcinoma (USC) undergoing sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping alone versus patients undergoing systematic lymphadenectomy (LND).

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed patients undergoing primary surgical treatment for newly diagnosed USC at our institution from 1/1/1996-12/31/2017. Patients were assigned to either SLN mapping alone (SLN cohort) or systematic LND without SLN mapping (LND cohort). Progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method, compared using Logrank test.

RESULTS

245 patients were available for analysis: 79 (32.2%) underwent SLN, 166 (67.7%) LND. 132 (79.5%) in the LND cohort had paraaortic LND (PALND) versus none in the SLN cohort. Median age: 66 and 68 years in the SLN and LND cohorts, respectively (p>0.05). Proportion of stage I/II disease: 67.1% (n = 53) and 64.5% (n = 107) in the SLN and LND cohorts, respectively (p>0.05). Median follow-up: 23 (range, 1-96) and 66 months (range, 4-265) in the SLN and LND cohorts, respectively (p < 0.001). Two-year OS in stage I/II disease (n = 160, 60.1%): 96.6% (SE ± 3.4) and 89.6% (SE ± 2.2) in the SLN and LND cohorts, respectively (p = 0.8). Two-year OS in stage III disease (n = 77): 73.6% (SE ± 10.2) and 77.3% (SE ± 5.8) in the SLN and LND cohorts, respectively (p = 0.8).

CONCLUSIONS

SLN mapping alone and systematic LND yielded similar survival outcomes in stage I-III USC. In our practice, the SLN algorithm has replaced systematic LND as the primary staging modality in this setting.