ObjectiveThe objective of the ConCerv Trial was to prospectively evaluate the feasibility of conservative surgery in women with early-stage, low-risk cervical cancer.MethodsFrom April 2010 to March 2019, a prospective, single-arm, multicenter study evaluated conservative surgery in participants from 16 sites in nine countries. Eligibility criteria included: (1) FIGO 2009 stage IA2–IB1 cervical carcinoma; (2) squamous cell (any grade) or adenocarcinoma (grade 1 or 2 only) histology; (3) tumor size <2 cm; (4) no lymphovascular space invasion; (5) depth of invasion <10 mm; (6) negative imaging for metastatic disease; and (7) negative conization margins. Cervical conization was performed to determine eligibility, with one repeat cone permitted. Eligible women desiring fertility preservation underwent a second surgery with pelvic lymph node assessment, consisting of sentinel lymph node biopsy and/or full pelvic lymph node dissection. Those not desiring fertility preservation underwent simple hysterectomy with lymph node assessment. Women who had undergone an ‘inadvertent’ simple hysterectomy with an unexpected post-operative diagnosis of cancer were also eligible if they met the above inclusion criteria and underwent a second surgery with pelvic lymph node dissection only.Results100 evaluable patients were enrolled. Median age at surgery was 38 years (range 23–67). Stage was IA2 (33%) and IB1 (67%). Surgery included conization followed by lymph node assessment in 44 women, conization followed by simple hysterectomy with lymph node assessment in 40 women, and inadvertent simple hysterectomy followed by lymph node dissection in 16 women. Positive lymph nodes were noted in 5 patients (5%). Residual disease in the post-conization hysterectomy specimen was noted in 1/40 patients—that is, an immediate failure rate of 2.5%. Median follow-up was 36.3 months (range 0.0–68.3). Three patients developed recurrent disease within 2 years of surgery—that is, a cumulative incidence of 3.5% (95% CI 0.9% to 9.0%).DiscussionOur prospective data show that select patients with early-stage, low-risk cervical carcinoma may be offered conservative surgery.

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ObjectiveThere is significant debate between up-front radical trachelectomy versus neo-adjuvant chemotherapy before fertility-sparing surgery in patients with tumors ≥2 cm. The aim of this study was to report on the oncological and obstetrical outcome of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by fertility-sparing surgery, in patients diagnosed with cervical cancer ≥2 cm.MethodsThis was a retrospective review of patients diagnosed with cervical cancer measuring ≥2 cm to ≤6 cm, who were scheduled to undergo neo-adjuvant chemotherapy before fertility-sparing surgery, at six institutions from four Latin American countries between February 2009 and February 2019. Data collected included: age, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2009 stage, histology, tumor size, pre-treatment imaging work-up, chemotherapy agents and number of cycles, toxicity, clinical and imaging response rate, type of fertility-sparing surgery, pathology results, timing of lymphadenectomy, follow-up time, and obstetrical and oncological outcomes.ResultsA total of 25 patients were included, with a median age of 27 years (range 20–37): 17 patients had stage IB1, 7 had stage IB2 cervical cancer, and 1 patient had stage IIA1 (FIGO 2009); 23 patients had squamous cell carcinoma and 2 patients had adenocarcinoma. The median number of chemotherapy cycles was 3 (range 3–6) and no toxicity grade 3–4 was reported. Lymphadenectomy was performed before chemotherapy in 6 (24%) patients. After neo-adjuvant chemotherapy 20 patients were scheduled for radical trachelectomy (11 abdominal and 9 laparoscopic) and 5 patients for conization. After surgery, no residual disease was found in 11 patients (44%). Fertility was preserved in 23 patients (92%) and 10 patients became pregnant (43.5%). After a median follow-up time of 47 months (13–133), 3 patients had recurrent disease (3/23=13%), 2 were alive without disease, and 1 patient had disease at last contact.ConclusionNeo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by fertility-sparing surgery is feasible in well selected patients with cervical tumors ≥2 cm. Future studies should focus on the timing of lymphadenectomy and type of cervical surgery.

Tools that accurately predict the presence of metastatic ovarian cancer in the pleura are limited. Thus, we sought to summarize the current literature on video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and its applicability in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. A total of 187 patients with suspected ovarian cancer who underwent the VATS procedure were identified for this analysis. The median patient age was 59.4 years (range, 20.3-83 years). The median operative time for VATS was 32 minutes (range, 5-65 minutes). In 89 patients (48%), VATS revealed macroscopic disease in the pleural cavity. After VATS, 44 patients underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and the remaining 143 patients underwent primary cytoreductive surgery. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery led to a change in disease stage or management in 76 patients (41%). Among patients with pleural effusions, VATS revealed pleural disease in 57% of patients, and 73% of patients with positive pleural cytology had evidence of pleural disease at the time of VATS. In addition, 23.5% of patients with negative pleural cytology had evidence of pleural disease at the time of VATS. Prospective trials are needed to accurately evaluate the impact of VATS on disease-free and overall survival in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery can help determine which patients are ideal candidates for surgical cytoreduction.

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