Retrospective analysis of surgery for cervical stump carcinoma at early stage

Cervical stump cancer is a rare type of disease as total hysterectomies are performed infrequently. The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess the diagnosis, treatment, follow-up methods and complications of 10 patients with cervical stump carcinoma treated with surgery in Anhui Provincial Hospital affiliated to Anhui Medical University (Hefei, China). From January 2006 to October 2016 a total of 10 patients underwent surgery for carcinoma of the cervical stump. The pathological reports revealed 80% of cases were squamous cell carcinoma and 20% of cases were adenocarcinoma. The FIGO stage distribution was as follows: Carcinoma in situ (10%); IB1 (70%); IIA (20%). The patients received a transvaginal trachelectomy or a radical trachelectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy (either laparoscopic or laparotomic abdominal); four of the patients were treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, and two with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The parametrial and resection margin infiltration, lymph node metastasis and lymph vascular space invasion (LVSI) were negative in all patients, and the deep stromal invasion rate was 66.7% (6/9). No incidences of recurrence or mortality were recorded during the follow-up interval of 6-120 months. Compared with the four patients who received laparotomic abdominal surgery, significantly less blood loss was recorded for the five patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery (P<0.01). There was no significant difference observed in the surgery time (P>0.01) or in the hospital stay duration (P>0.01) for the patients treated with laparotomic abdominal surgery and laparoscopic surgery. One patient experienced bladder fistula due to bladder over-dilation, but recovered quickly after the catheter was reinserted. Surgery for cervical stump cancer at an early-stage is a viable and safer procedure, particularly the laparoscopic approach.