Discrepancies between clinical staging and surgicopathologic findings in early-stage cervical cancer and prognostic significance.

Objective: To investigate discrepancies between clinical staging and surgicopathologic findings in early-stage cervical cancer and explore the prognostic significance of these discrepancies.

Methods: A retrospective review of the clinical records of individuals with early-stage cervical cancer who underwent primary radical surgery in Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, between 2007 and 2013. Discrepancies in clinical staging were investigated by using surgicopathologic findings as the reference. Individuals were classified according to the type of discrepancy. Kaplan-Meier plots were generated to explore the prognostic significance of stage discrepancies.

Results: Among 266 individuals included in the study, 182 (68.4%) were accurately staged, 58 (21.8%) were clinically over-staged, and 26 (9.8%) were clinically under-staged. More relapses (19.2% vs 4.9% vs 6.8%, P=0.027) and deaths (11.5% vs 2.2% vs 3.4%, P=0.048) were observed among those who were clinically under-staged than among those who were accurately or clinically over-staged. Clinical under-staging was associated with poorer disease-free survival (P=0.003) and poorer overall survival (P=0.020) over a median follow-up of 43.9 months.

Conclusion: Significant discrepancies were found between clinical staging and surgicopathologic findings in early-stage cervical cancer. Stage discrepancies were found to have prognostic significance, with clinical under-staging identified as a potential adverse prognostic factor.