Tumor Grade and Rate of Lymph Node Metastasis in Early-Stage Ovarian Cancer
Posted: Tuesday, June 12, 2018
The rate of regional lymph node metastases in early-stage, low-grade mucinous and endometrioid ovarian tumors is not common, according to a study published in Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics. According to study author Dimitrios Nasioudis, MD, of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues, “international collaborations may aid in identifying patients with apparent early stage [endometrioid ovarian cancer] who may be safely spared of systematic [lymph node sampling/dissection].”
The investigators identified 1,242 women from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database with epithelial ovarian cancer of serous, endometrioid, and mucinous histology apparently confined to the ovaries and who had undergone extensive lymphadenectomy. The researchers collected information on demographics, tumor histology, grade, and lymph node status.
Within the patient population, 564 women (45.4%) had endometrioid, 443 (35.7%) had serous, and 235 (18.9%) had mucinous adenocarcinomas. In patients with low- and high-grade serous histology, the rate of lymph node metastasis was 9.0% and 14.4%, respectively (P = .24). The rate of lymph node metastasis among patients with low-grade endometrioid and mucinous tumors was much less frequent. The rate in those with low-grade endometrioid tumors was 1.7%, versus 5.1% among those with high-grade tumors (P =.033). Among patients with mucinous histology, the rate of lymph node metastasis in low-grade tumors was 1.7%, compared with 8.6% in high-grade tumors.
