Survival of women with early-stage cervical cancer in the UK treated with minimal access and open surgery

TNF-α-induced down-regulation of type I interferon receptor contributes to acquired resistance of cervical squamous cancer to Cisplatin

We aimed to investigate the effects of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α on the expression of interferon α/β receptor subunit 1 (IFNAR1) and cervical squamous cancer (CSCC) resistance to Cisplatin, as well as the underlying mechanisms. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to plot the overall survival curves. SiHa cells were treated with 20 ng/ml TNF-α to determine cell proliferation in human CSCC cells and the expression of IFNAR1. The effects of TNF-α on the downstream signaling pathway, including casein kinase 1α (CK1α), were investigated using the caspase protease inhibitor FK009, the c-Jun kinase inhibitor SP600125, and the nuclear factor kappa-B inhibitor ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC). TNF-α induced down-regulation of IFNAR1 in human CSCC cells and promoted proliferation of SiHa cells. SiHa cells were transfected with the catalytic inactive mutant CK1α K49A, and the ability of TNF-α to induce down-regulation of IFNAR1 expression was found to be significantly diminished in this context. FK009 and PDTC had no obvious effect on the expression of CK1α, however, SP600125 significantly reduced the expression of CK1α in the presence of TNF-α. SiHa cells treated with TNF-α showed reduced sensitivity to Cisplatin and exhibited higher cell viability, while the sensitivity of SiHa cells to Cisplatin was restored after treatment with CK1α inhibitor D4476. Additionally, we constructed a TNF-α overexpressing SiHa cell line and a transplanted tumor model. The results were similar to those of in vitro efficacy. We demonstrate that TNF-α-induced down-regulation of type I interferon receptor contributes to acquired resistance of cervical squamous cancer to Cisplatin.

Radical Hysterectomy for Early Stage Cervical Cancer

Radical hysterectomy and plus pelvic node dissection are the primary methods of treatment for patients with early stage cervical cancer. During the last decade, growing evidence has supported the adoption of a minimally invasive approach. Retrospective data suggested that minimally invasive surgery improves perioperative outcomes, without neglecting long-term oncologic outcomes. In 2018, the guidelines from the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology stated that a "minimally invasive approach is favored" in comparison with open surgery. However, the phase III, randomized Laparoscopic Approach to Cervical Cancer (LACC) trial questioned the safety of the minimally invasive approach. The LACC trial highlighted that the execution of minimally invasive radical hysterectomy correlates with an increased risk of recurrence and death. After its publication, other retrospective studies investigated this issue, with differing results. Recent evidence suggested that robotic-assisted surgery is not associated with an increased risk of worse oncologic outcomes. The phase III randomized Robotic-assisted Approach to Cervical Cancer (RACC) and the Robotic Versus Open Hysterectomy Surgery in Cervix Cancer (ROCC) trials will clarify the pros and cons of performing a robotic-assisted radical hysterectomy (with tumor containment before colpotomy) in early stage cervical cancer.

New Insights on the Minimal-Invasive Therapy of Cervical Cancer

Objective: The ideal management of early-stage cervical cancer has become the subject of a global controversy following the publication of a prospective study in 2018 that reported a worse oncologic outcome when comparing the minimally invasive approach to the laparotomy approach. The discussion involves both prospective and retrospective data and general and theoretical considerations. We wanted to look at the data available today and review the different opinions, offering an impartial assessment of the ongoing controversy. Methods: The available literature was reviewed, focusing on articles arguing for and against minimally invasive surgery in cervical cancer. We tried to avoid any fundamental bias, as is often evident in the available reviews on the subject. Literature both before and after the 2018 publication was taken into consideration. Results: As is usual in discussions of concepts, the literature that is now available provides arguments for both sides of this challenging issue, depending on one’s standpoint. Science-related writing is not immune to trends. There is a curious shift in opinion seen before and after 2018. One must question whether there was a prejudice in favor of minimally invasive surgery prior to the publication of the NEJM articles and a bias against it afterward. Conclusion: Whether further minimally invasive surgery for cervical cancer is invariable is tied to the more pressing question of how this surgery will have to be centralized in the future. Unless these questions are linked, no satisfactory solution can be found.

Retrospective Comparison of Laparoscopic versus Open Radical Hysterectomy for Early-Stage Cervical Cancer in a Single Tertiary Care Institution from Lithuania between 2009 and 2019

Background and Objectives: A great debate within the academic arena was evoked by the LACC study, giving rise to doubt regarding the oncological outcomes of the laparoscopic approach for early-stage cervical cancer. This encouraged us to conduct a retrospective analysis of CC treatment surgical approaches applied to the patients at tertiary level Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinics, Vilnius, Lithuania, between 2009 and 2019. Materials and Methods: The retrospective study was carried out to evaluate the outcomes after 28 laparoscopic and 62 laparotomic radical hysterectomies for early cervical cancer in a single tertiary care institution performed during the period 2009–2019. For statistical analysis of patients’ parameters, SPSS v. 17.0 was applied, together with the Kaplan–Meier method with a long-rank test and the Cox proportional hazard regression model used for bi-variate analysis determining OS outcomes between MIS and open-surgery groups. Results: After computing data with the Cox regression model, there was no significant difference of the 36-months overall survival between laparoscopy and laparotomy groups, as opposed to the LACC study. Conclusions: Our tertiary institution faces a considerable challenge, and we acknowledge the limitations of the study and also feel a responsibility to follow the latest guidelines. Currently, it appears that the most substantial attention should be focused on the cessation of uterine manipulator use as well as laparoscopic technique learning curves.

Association of preoperative cone biopsy with recurrences after radical hysterectomy

Objective

To evaluate association of preoperative cone biopsy with the probability of recurrent disease after radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer.

Methods

This is a retrospective single-center study. Patients with cervical cancer stage IA1 with LVSI to IIA2 and squamous, adenosquamous and adenocarcinoma subtype were included. Patients were analyzed for general characteristics and recurrence-free survival (RFS).

Results

In total, of 480 patients with cervical cancer, 183 patients met the inclusion criteria (117 with laparoscopic and 66 with open surgery). The median tumor diameter was 25.0 mm (range 4.6–70.0 mm) with 66 (36.2%) patients having tumors smaller than 2 cm. During median follow-up of 54.0 months (range 0–166.0 months), the RFS for the laparoscopic cohort was 93.2% and 87.5% at 3 and 4.5 years, and 79.3% for the open cohort after 3 and 4.5 years, respectively. In total, 17 (9.3%) patients developed recurrent disease, 9 (7.3%) after laparoscopic, and 8 (12.1%) after open surgery. No preoperative cone biopsy (OR 9.60, 95% CI 2.14–43.09) as well as tumor diameter > 2 cm (OR 5.39, 95% CI 1.20–24.25) were significantly associated with increased risk for recurrence. In multivariate analysis, only missing preoperative cone biopsy was significantly associated with increased risk for recurrence (OR 5.90, 95% CI 1.11–31.29)

Conclusion

There appears to be a subgroup of patients (preoperative cone biopsy, tumor diameter < 2 cm) with excellent survival and low risk for recurrence after radical hysterectomy which might benefit from the advantages of laparoscopic surgery.

Lipid metabolism regulator human hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-like 2 (HSDL2) modulates cervical cancer cell proliferation and metastasis

Human hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase‐like 2 (HSDL2) is a potent regulator in cancers and is also involved in lipid metabolism, but the role of HSDL2 in cervical cancer and whether it regulates the progress of cervical cancer through lipid metabolism remains unclear. In this study, we found that the overexpression of HSDL2 was in relation with cervical cancer progression including lymph nodes metastasis and recurrence. HSDL2 could serve as a novel marker of early diagnosis in cervical cancer. HSDL2 also gave impetus to tumorigenesis by initiating and promoting proliferation, invasion and migration of cervical cancer cells (Hela, C33A and SiHa) through EMT. Interestingly, we also searched that HSDL2 participated in oncogenesis by regulating lipid metabolism. In sum, our results gave the novel insight of HSDL2 functions which could be the potential for being the biomarker of prognosis and new target of therapy.

Laparoscopic vs. Open Abdominal Radical Hysterectomy for Cervical Cancer: A Single-Institution, Propensity Score Matching Study in China

Study Objective: To compare the surgical and oncologic outcomes between open abdomen radical hysterectomy (ARH) and laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (LRH) for cervical cancer.

Methods: Retrospective observational study with propensity score matching was used to ensure balanced groups for ARH and LRH. One-hundred-and-ninety-eight women with cervical cancer, 99 treated using ARH and 99 using LRH, between January 2012 and December 2014. Outcomes included disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), intra-operative factors, post-operator recovery, urinary retention, and adverse events. Moreover, the inverse probability of the treatment weighting (IPTW) method was also used.

Main Results: Compared with ARH, LRH was associated with a lower volume of blood loss (P < 0.001) and transfusion rate (P < 0.001), with a broader resection of the parametrium (P < 0.001). Post-operatively, the time to first flatus was shorter for LRH than ARH (P < 0.001) but the rate of urinary retention was higher for LRH (22.2%) than ARH (8.1%; P = 0.009). DFS and OS were similar between groups. By IPTW, laparoscopy was also not associated with poorer survival in terms of DFS (HR 1.52, CI 0.799–2.891, P = 0.202) or OS (HR 0.942, HR 0.425–2.09, P = 0.883).

Conclusion: Compared with ARH, LRH provided better intra-operative and post-operative outcomes, with no significant difference in oncologic outcomes and survival. Urinary retention remains a clinical issue to improve with LRH. The technology of LRH has been improved in China to address the inconsistent results of oncologic outcomes in previous studies. Whether these improvements could be effective needs to be investigated in the future.

Radical Hysterectomy After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Locally Bulky-Size Cervical Cancer: A Retrospective Comparative Analysis between the Robotic and Abdominal Approaches

Radical hysterectomy (RH) is the standard treatment for early stage cervical cancer, but the surgical approach for locally bulky-size cervical cancer (LBS-CC) is still unclear. We retrospectively compared the outcomes of women with LBS-CC treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and subsequent RH between the robotic (R-RH) and abdominal approaches (A-RH). Between 2012 and 2014, 39 women with LBS-CC FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stage IB2–IIB were treated with NACT-R-RH (n = 18) or NACT-A-RH (n = 21). Surgical parameters and prognosis were compared. Patient characteristics were not significantly different between the groups, but the NACT-R-RH group had significantly more patients with FIGO stage IIB disease, received multi-agent-based NACT, and had a lower percentage of deep stromal invasion than the NACT-A-RH group. After NACT-R-RH, surgical parameters were better, but survival outcomes, such as disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), were significantly worse. On multivariate analysis, FIGO stage IIB contributed to worse DFS (p = 0.003) and worse OS (p = 0.012) in the NACT-A-RH group. Women with LBS-CC treated with NACT-R-RH have better perioperative outcomes but poorer survival outcomes compared with those treated with NACT-A-RH. Thus, patients with FIGO stage IIB LBS-CC disease might not be suitable for surgery after multi-agent-based NACT.

Peritoneal contamination with ICG-stained cervical secretion as surrogate for potential cervical cancer tumor cell dissemination: A proof-of-principle study for laparoscopic hysterectomy

INTRODUCTION

Intracorporal colpotomy during radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer is discussed to be a risk factor for peritoneal dissemination of tumor cells. It might lead to increased recurrence rates after laparoscopic radical hysterectomy compared with abdominal hysterectomy, as shown by the recent LACC study. Data on the frequency or mechanisms of peritoneal contamination are missing. We aimed to analyze peritoneal contamination of cervical secretion during intracorporal colpotomy with a novel indocyaningreen (ICG)-based technique.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In this prospective proof-of-principle study, patients undergoing routine laparoscopic or robot-assisted hysterectomy were selected. ICG was specifically applied to the cervical surface and routine surgery was performed. During colpotomy, pictures under white and fluorescence light were taken to evaluate frequency of contamination.

RESULTS

By using cervically applied ICG we were able to visualize directly peritoneal contamination with cervical secretion during intracorporal colpotomy. We detected peritoneal contamination in 9/12 (75%) patients undergoing routine laparoscopic hysterectomy. Contamination of laparoscopic instruments occurred in 60% of the patients. When contamination occurred, it was routinely detectable during all steps of colpotomy. There were no adverse effects during surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Peritoneal contamination with cervical secretion frequently occurs during intracorporal colpotomy. This novel technique represents a promising tool for feasible and direct visualization of peritoneal contamination during colpotomy. The technique may be easily implemented in further studies on laparoscopic and abdominal hysterectomy and serve as a quality assessment tool for surgeons and surgical techniques.