Dogan Vatansever

Correspondence on ‘Cardiophrenic and costophrenic lymphadenectomy in advanced ovarian cancer by prediaphragmatic subxiphoid approach: PS technique’ by Stanciu

Combination of sentinel lymph node mapping and uterine frozen section examination to reduce side-specific lymphadenectomy rate in endometrial cancer: a Turkish Gynecologic Oncology Group study (TRSGO-SLN-002)

This study aimed to find out whether side-specific pelvic lymphadenectomy can be omitted without compromising diagnostic efficacy according to "reflex frozen section" analysis of the uterus in case of sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping failure. Patients who underwent surgery for endometrial cancer with an SLN algorithm were stratified as low-risk or high-risk according to the uterine features on the final pathology reports. Two models for low-risk patients were defined to omit side-specific pelvic lymphadenectomy: strategy A included patients with endometrioid histology, grade 1-2, and <50% myometrial invasion irrespective of the tumor diameter; strategy B included all factors of strategy A with the addition of tumor diameter ≤2 cm. Theoretical side-specific pelvic lymphadenectomy rates were calculated for the two strategies, assuming side-specific pelvic lymphadenectomy was omitted if low-risk features were present on reflex uterine frozen examination, and compared with the standard National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) SLN algorithm. 372 endometrial cancer patients were analyzed. 230 patients (61.8%) had endometrioid grade 1 or 2 tumors with <50% myometrial invasion (strategy A), and in 123 (53.4%) of these patients the tumor diameter was ≤2 cm (strategy B); 8 (3.5%) of the 230 cases had lymphatic metastasis. None of them were detected by side-specific pelvic lymphadenectomy and metastases were limited to SLNs in 7 patients. At least one pelvic side was not mapped in 107 (28.8%) cases in the entire cohort, and all of these cases would require a side-specific pelvic lymphadenectomy based on the NCCN SLN algorithm. This rate could have been significantly decreased to 11.8% and 19.4% by applying reflex frozen section examination of the uterus using strategy A and strategy B, respectively. Reflex frozen section examination of the uterus can be a feasible option to decide whether side-specific pelvic lymphadenectomy is necessary for all the patients who failed to map with an SLN algorithm. If low-risk factors are found on frozen section examination, side-specific pelvic lymphadenectomy can be omitted without compromising diagnostic efficacy for lymphatic spread.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy in early stage endometrial cancer: a Turkish gynecologic oncology group study (TRSGO-SLN-001)

The aim of this multicenter study was to evaluate the feasibility of sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping in clinically uterine confined endometrial cancer. Patients who underwent primary surgery for endometrial cancer with an SLN algorithm were reviewed. Indocyanine green or blue dye was used as a tracer. SLNs and/or suspicious lymph nodes were resected. Side specific lymphadenectomy was performed when mapping was unsuccessful. SLNs were ultrastaged on final pathology. 357 eligible patients were analyzed. Median age was 59 years. Median number of resected SLNs was 2 (range 1-12) per patient. Minimal invasive and open surgeries were performed in 264 (73.9%) and 93 (26.1%) patients, respectively. Indocyanine green was used in 231 (64.7%) and blue dye in 126 (35.3%) patients. The dyes were injected into the cervix in 355 (99.4%) patients. The overall and bilateral SLN detection rates were 91.9% and 71.4%, respectively. The mapping rates using indocyanine green or blue dye were comparable (P=0.526). There were 43 (12%) patients with lymphatic metastasis. The SLN algorithm was not able to detect 3 of 43 patients who had isolated paraaortic metastasis. After SLN biopsy, complete pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed in 286 (80.1%) patients. Sensitivity and negative predictive value were both 100% for the detection of pelvic lymph node metastases. In addition, 117 (32.8%) patients underwent completion paraaortic lymphadenectomy after SLN biopsy. In these patients, sensitivity for detecting metastases to pelvic and/or paraaortic lymph nodes was 90.3% with a negative predictive value of 96.6%. The risk of non-SLN involvement in patients with macrometastatic SLNs, micrometastatic SLNs, and isolated tumor cells in SLNs were 61.2%, 14.3% and 0%, respectively. SLN biopsy had good accuracy in detecting lymphatic metastasis. However, one-third of cases with metastatic SLNs also had non-SLN involvement and this risk increased to two-thirds of cases with macrometastatic SLNs. The effect of leaving these nodes in situ on survival should be evaluated in further studies.

Complete tumor resection and demonstration of detailed anatomy of the porta hepatis in a patient with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer

Upper abdominal debulking surgery for ovarian cancer total colectomy, total peritonectomy, and extended upper abdominal debulking surgery

Feasibility of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in ovarian cancer during COVID-19 pandemic

This study aims to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions on patients who underwent cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for ovarian cancer. We retrospectively evaluated ovarian cancer patients who underwent HIPEC following complete cytoreductive surgery performed during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in three different centers specializing in gynecological oncology. All patients who underwent cytoreduction plus HIPEC for a primary, interval, and recurrent surgery were evaluated. Primary outcomes was postoperative 30-day morbidity and mortality. The secondary outcome was infection of patient and/or related staff with COVID-19 during the perioperative or early postoperative period. We performed a total of 35 HIPEC procedures during the pandemic: 15 (42.9%) patients underwent primary/interval surgery, while 20 (57.1%) patients had recurrent disease. Grade 3-4 complications occurred in one patient (2.9%) (chronic renal failure), while mortality did not occur in any patient. Neither the patients nor related staff were infected with the coronavirus during the perioperative or early postoperative period. One patient, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia on postoperative day 80 died from the infection. Another patient died on postoperative day 85 due to progressive ovarian cancer, a disorder in vital functions, and organ failure. HIPEC during the COVID-19 pandemic seems a safe and feasible procedure, with acceptable morbidity and mortality rates. Careful selection of patients is important and precautions should be taken before the procedure.

Impact of cytoreductive surgery on survival of patients with low‐grade serous ovarian carcinoma: A multicentric study of Turkish Society of Gynecologic Oncology (TRSGO‐OvCa‐001)

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to analyze the factors affecting recurrence‐free (RFS) and overall survival (OS) rates of women diagnosed with low‐grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC).MethodsDatabases from 13 participating centers in Turkey were searched retrospectively for women who had been treated for stage I–IV LGSOC between 1997 and 2018.ResultsOverall 191 eligible women were included. The median age at diagnosis was 49 years (range, 21–84 years). One hundred seventy‐five (92%) patients underwent primary cytoreductive surgery. Complete and optimal cytoreduction was achieved in 148 (77.5%) and 33 (17.3%) patients, respectively. The median follow‐up period was 44 months (range, 2–208 months). Multivariate analysis showed the presence of endometriosis (p = .012), lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) (p = .022), any residual disease (p = .023), and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage II–IV disease (p = .045) were negatively correlated with RFS while the only presence of residual disease (p = .002) and FIGO stage II–IV disease (p = .003) significantly decreased OS.ConclusionsThe maximal surgical effort is warranted for complete cytoreduction as achieving no residual disease is the single most important variable affecting the survival of patients with LGSOC. The prognostic role of LVSI and endometriosis should be evaluated by further studies as both of these parameters significantly affected RFS.

Comparison of oncologic outcome of preoveratively presumed low-risk endometrial cancer patients who underwent only bilateral pelvic sentinel lymph node (SLN) removal and those who underwent pelvic lymphadenectomy in addition to bilateral pelvic SLN removal: Turkish Gynecologic Oncology Group (TRSGO-SLN-009)

We aimed to compare the oncological outcomes of patients with bilateral sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) detection and removed with those who underwent pelvic lymphadenectomy (PLA) in addition to bilateral SLNs removal. This multicenter, retrospective study included cases of endometrioid type, grade I-II endometrial cancer, in which bilateral SLNs were detected and removed. Patients who had only bilateral SLNs detected and removed (group I) and patients who had bilateral SLNs detected and removed and subsequent additional bilateral PLA (group II) were included in the evaluation. In group I (n=216), SLN metastasis rate was 5.5% and in group II (n=251), it was 10.3%. The low-volume disease detection rate was 4.6% in group I and 4.8% in group II. In group II, in patients with SLN macrometastasis had also 28.6% non-SLN macrometastasis. No false-negative results occurred in group II. Recurrence was detected 1.8% in group I and 5% in group II; however, there was no significant difference (p=0.083). Disease-free survival and overall survival, were almost same between the groups (hazard ratio [HR]=2.11; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.681-6.588; p=0.187) and (HR=1.531; 95% CI=0.392-5.975; p=0.537), respectively. SLN mapping, ultrastaging, and immunohistochemical staining can identify low-volume metastases that may not be identified with classic lymphadenectomy and hematoxylin & eosin staining. It has been observed that adding PLA beyond SLN mapping did not provide an additional positive contribution to survival. For endometriod type grade I-II patients, detection of bilateral SLNs in both hemipelvis only, if detectable, is an adequate approach.