Objective: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to assess parametrial invasion (PMI) in cervical cancer. Discordance between MRI findings and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging is not uncommon because FIGO staging depends on physical examination. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the long-term outcomes of MRI stage IIB cervical cancer.
Methods: A total of 312 patients with MRI stage IIB cervical cancer were retrospectively found between 2002 and 2011. Of these patients, 171 (group 1) were FIGO stage IIB cervical cancers and 141 (group 2) were MRI stage IIB cervical cancers that were negative PMI on physical examination. Group 1 was treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, and group 2 was treated with radical hysterectomy and lymph node dissection. The FIGO stages and pathologic findings of group 2 were recorded. Groups 1 and 2 were compared regarding 5-year overall survival rate.
Results: The FIGO stages of group 2 were IB1 in 51 (36.2%), IB2 in 28 (19.9%), and IIA in 62 (44%), whereas those of group 1 were all IIB. Group 2 showed lymphovascular space invasion in 71 (50.4%), lymph node metastasis in 48 (34.0%), PMI in 46 (32.6%), and vagina invasion in 9 (6.4%). Five-year overall survival rates of groups 1 and 2 were 73.7% and 84.5%, respectively (P = 0.013).
Conclusions: Magnetic resonance imaging stage IIB cervical cancers with negative PMI on physical examination should be surgically treated because of better survival rate than FIGO stage IIB cervical cancers.