Abdominal radical trachelectomy as a fertility-sparing procedure in women with early-stage cervical cancer in a series of 61 women.

OBJECTIVE: This retrospective study was conducted as a review of a series of women who had undergone abdominal radical trachelectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy for early-stage cervical cancer.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of patients who had undergone an abdominal radical trachelectomy. Data regarding tumor size and histology, surgical complications, recurrences, pregnancies and live births were collected and were presented as a percentage of the total number of cases.

RESULTS: A total of 61 women were followed up for a median of 27 months (range: one month--79 months). There were six recurrences (9.8%); none of the recurrences occurred in patients with a tumor diameter of <20 mm except in one case with adenocarcinoma. Twenty-nine women attempted to conceive; four of these women were successful. All four of these women had live births: two had preterm deliveries, and the remaining two had full-term deliveries. The cumulative pregnancy rate among the women who attempted to conceive was 13.8% (4/29).

CONCLUSION: Among selected women with early-stage cervical cancer, especially those with a tumor diameter of <20 mm, abdominal radical trachelectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy is a fertility-sparing treatment option, even though the cumulative conception rate was not particularly high compared with that for women who had undergone a vaginal radical trachelectomy.