The clinical value of lymph node dissection remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of lymphadenectomy on the prognosis of patients with uterine leiomyosarcomas (uLMS) or endometrial stromal sarcomas (ESS). PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies describing the prognostic significance of lymphadenectomy in uLMS or ESS. Quality assessments were performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, relative hazard ratios and a random-effects model. Thirty-two retrospective cohort studies that included 26,693 patients in total were enrolled. Patients with uLMS or low-grade ESS (LG-ESS) had no survival benefits from lymphadenectomy. However, patients with high-grade ESS (HG-ESS), did show survival benefits of lymphadenectomy, with no heterogeneity. No significant evidence of publication bias was found. Lymphadenectomy had little prognostic effect on patients with early-stage uLMS or LG-ESS. The best treatment for HG-ESS is early, comprehensive hysterectomy with lymph node dissection.
Keywords: Endometrial stromal sarcoma; Lymphadenectomy; Meta-analysis; Prognosis; Uterine leiomyosarcoma.
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