Our goal was to assess the impact of anastomotic leaks (ALs) on oncologic outcomes using a case-matched analysis. Patients undergoing right hemicolectomy for cancer between 2014 and 2018 were included. The main variables were the risk factor of anastomotic leak, overall survival and disease-free survival. Propensity score matching was performed according to the patient’s age, co-morbidities and TNM staging as well as the type of procedure. Oncologic outcomes were analyzed. We included 488 patients and performed final analysis on 69 patients. The AL rate was 4.71% (23 patients). Intrahospital mortality was significantly higher in the AL group, at 1.3% (6 of 465) vs. 8.7% (2 of 23), p = 0.05. Three-year overall survival (OS) in the non-AL group was higher, although the difference could not be considered significant (71.5% vs. 37.3%, p = 0.082); similarly, the likelihood for impaired 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) was lower, but the difference here could also not be considered significant (69.3% vs. 37.3%, p = 0.106). Age, advanced tumor stage, lymph node metastases and distant metastases were associated with higher probability of death or recurrence of disease. In contrast, minimally invasive surgery was associated with lower probability of death (HR (95% CI): 0.99 (0.14–0.72); p = 0.023) and recurrence of disease (HR (95% CI): 0.94 (0.13–0.68); p = 0.020). In an adjusted Cox regression analysis, AL, age and distant metastases were associated with poor long-term survival. Moreover, AL, age and distant metastases were associated with higher probability of recurrence of disease. Based on our results, AL is a significant factor for worse oncologic outcomes. Simple summary: we aimed to assess patients with anastomotic leaks following right hemicolectomy for cancer. These patients were matched to patients without leaks. Propensity score analysis demonstrated that anastomotic leak was a marker of worse oncologic outcomes.

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Management of early-stage cervical cancer (CC) in young women often faces challenges to preserve fertility, as well as to achieve an adequate oncological outcome. Although existing evidence supports a fertility-sparing treatment in the case of tumors <2 cm in diameter, the approach is less clear in bulky early-stage CC. In addition, the outcomes of radical trachelectomy performed by minimally invasive techniques are also highly debatable. Highlighting the high incidences of young women with early-stage CC, the lack of sufficient data raises considerable hindrances towards the proper counseling of this vulnerable patient group. In this report, a case of a young woman with bulky early-stage CC with a strong desire to preserve fertility is presented. A satisfactory oncological outcome was achieved after neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by laparoscopic radical trachelectomy. Ongoing prospective trials are expected to provide stronger evidence on this topic.