Objective: To evaluate the factors associated with positive pelvic lymph nodes (LNs) on the survival of patients with 2018 FIGO stage IIIC1p cervical cancer.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 155 patients with pelvic lymph node metastasis (LNM) confirmed by pathology after radical resection of cervical cancer treated at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, China, between March 2008 and October 2011. We analyzed the influence of the factors associated with positive pelvic LNs on the survival of patients.
Results: The 5-year progress-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients were 78.1% and 81.9%, respectively. The 5-year PFS and OS of patients with more than 2 LNM were worse compared with patients with 1 or 2 LNM (68.4% vs 83.7%, p =0.013; 72.4% vs 87.6%, p =0.017, respectively). The 5-year PFS and OS of patients with more than 2 LNM sites were worse than that of patients with 1 or 2 LNM sites (60.0% vs 82.4%, p =0.008; 70.0% vs 84.8%, p =0.045, respectively). The 5-year PFS and OS of patients with common iliac LNM was poorer than that of patients without common iliac LNM (60.7% vs 81.9%, p =0.008; 67.9% vs 85.0%, p =0.020, respectively). Compared with other patients, the survival of patients with these three factors (more than 2 LNM, more than 2 LNM sites, and common iliac LNM) was the worst (p <0.05).
Conclusion: More than 2 LNM, more than 2 LNM sites, and common iliac LNM were predictive factors of poor survival in stage IIIC1p cervical cancer patients. Survival of patients with stage IIIC1p cervical cancer declined with increasing presence of such factors. The combined evaluation of the factors associated with positive pelvic LNs is a more comprehensive and pragmatic approach in evaluating the prognosis of cervical cancer.
Keywords: cervical cancer, metastasis, prognosis, lymph nodes