A study of pelvic and para-aortic lymph node involvement in surgically staged endometrioid carcinoma of endometrium.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the depth of myometrial invasion and tumor grade on lymph node involvement in endometrial carcinoma.

Methods: Patients with endometrioid carcinoma of endometrium who underwent surgical staging between January 1999 and September 2010 under the division of gynecologic oncology were studied retrospectively. Patients treated by radiotherapy or chemotherapy before surgeries were excluded.

Results: The study group included 61 patients. Six patients had lymph node metastasis, of which 83.3 % had >50 % myometrial invasion (P = 0.052). Grades 1, 2, and 3 were each seen in 33.3 % of them (P = 0.061). When the study group was divided into two sets, namely, those with <50 and >50 % myometrial invasion, the odds ratio was 10.3, which means that the chance of the prevalence of lymph node metastasis in the latter group is 10 times more.

Conclusions: Although the P value was not significant, the odds ratio reveals that there is an increased risk of lymph node positivity with deeper myometrial invasion. Surgical staging needs to be done for all operable cases of carcinoma endometrium to determine the prognosis and further management.