Prospective Randomized Trial on Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy With Pelvic Lymphadenectomy for the Treatment of Endometrial Cancer FIGO Stage IB-II: Thunderbeat Technology Versus Standard Bipolar Electro-surgery.

The standard treatment for early-stage endometrial cancer is surgery. Surgical procedures include washing for cytology, total extrafascial hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Although the therapeutic value of routine pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy is debated, staging information is a critical determinant of adjuvant therapy for most gynecologic oncologists.

Type-1 endometrial cancer spread is limited to the pelvic nodes in most cases. If there are positive lymph nodes, those around the obturator nerve and around the external and common iliac vessels are more likely to be involved than those in the presacral area. Isolated involvement of the para-aortic nodes is rare. Complete excision of the nodes located around the iliac vessels and above the obturator nerve allows identification of 90% of node-positive patients.

The decision on whether to undertake lymphadenectomy should not be based on palpation of the nodal area, because less than 10% of patients with nodal metastases have grossly enlarged nodes.

Patients with endometrioid cancer, grade 1-2 with deep myometrial invasion and any grade 3 endometrioid endometrial cancer have at least a 5% risk of having positive pelvic lymph nodes. In our current treatment protocol, these patients undergo complete pelvic lymphadenectomy. Laparotomy may be indicated in endometrial cancer patients presenting with grossly positive pelvic nodes, grossly positive adnexal metastasis, or serosal infiltration.

Although the complication rate of a simple hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is not very high, over 70% new cases of endometrial cancer are diagnosed in post-menopausal women, commonly associated with medical co-morbidities, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Abdominal surgery therefore exposes them to an increased risk of complications. Vaginal hysterectomy has been suggested as an attractive alternative to abdominal surgery for these patients, but this approach does not allow exploration of the abdominal cavity, peritoneal washing, and lymph-node dissection. Laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy or total laparoscopic hysterectomy overcome the previous limitations.