In the last two decades, surgical methods for axillary staging in breast cancer patients have become less extensive, and full axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is confined to selected patients. In initially node-positive patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy, however, the optimal management remains unclear. Current guidelines vary widely, endorsing different strategies. We performed a literature review on axillary staging strategies and their place in international recommendations. This overview defines knowledge gaps associated with specific procedures, summarizes currently ongoing clinical trials that address these unsolved issues, and provides the rationale for further research. While some guidelines have already implemented surgical de-escalation, replacing ALND with, e.g., sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) or targeted axillary dissection (TAD) in cN+ patients converting to clinical node negativity, others recommend ALND. Numerous techniques are in use for tagging lymph node metastasis, but many questions regarding the marking technique, i.e., the optimal time for marker placement and the number of marked nodes, remain unanswered. The optimal number of SLNs to be excised also remains a matter of debate. Data on oncological safety and quality of life following different staging procedures are lacking. These results provide the rationale for the multinational prospective cohort study AXSANA initiated by EUBREAST, which started enrollment in June 2020 and aims at recruiting 3000 patients in 20 countries (NCT04373655; Funded by AGO-B, Claudia von Schilling Foundation for Breast Cancer Research, AWOgyn, EndoMag, Mammotome, and MeritMedical).

Objectives: The role of adjuvant radiotherapy for lymph node-negative stage IB patients with tumor- related negative prognostic factors is not uniformly accepted. It is advocated based on the GOG 92 trial, which was initiated in 1989. The aim of the current study is to report the oncological outcome of “intermediate risk” patients treated by tailored surgery without adjuvant radiotherapy. Data from two institutions that refer these patients for adjuvant radiotherapy served as a control group. Methods: Included were patients with stage IB cervical cancer treated with radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy, who had negative pelvic lymph nodes but a combination of negative prognostic factors adopted from the GOG 92 trial. Data were obtained from prospectively collected databases of three institutions. Radical surgery was a single-treatment modality in one of them and in the remaining two institutes it was followed by adjuvant chemoradiation. Results: In 127 patients who received only radical surgery, with a median follow-up of 6.1 years, the local recurrence rate was 1.6% (2 cases), and total recurrence was 6.3% (8 cases). Disease-specific survival at five years was 95.7% (91.9%; 99.4%) and 91% (83.7%; 98.3%) at 10 years. The only significant factor for disease-specific survival was tumor size ≥4 cm (P=0.032). The recurrence rate, local control or overall survival did not differ from the control group. Adjuvant radiotherapy was not a significant prognostic factor within the whole cohort. Conclusions: An excellent oncological outcome, especially local control, can be achieved by both radical surgery or combined treatment in stage IB lymph node-negative cervical cancer patients with negative prognostic factors. The substantially better outcome than in the GOG 92 trial can be attributed to more accurate pre-operative and pathological staging and an improvement in surgical techniques.

Background: The management of cervical cancer patients with intraoperative detection of lymph node involvement remains controversial. Since all these patients are referred for (chemo)radiation after the surgery, the key decision is whether radical hysterectomy should be completed as originally planned, taking into account an additional morbidity associated with extensive surgical dissection prior to adjuvant treatment. The ABRAX study investigated whether completing a radical uterine procedure is associated with an improved oncological outcome of such patients. Patients and methods: We performed retrospective analyses of 515 cervical cancer patients (51 institutions, 19 countries) who were referred for primary curative surgery between 2005 and 2015 (stage IAeIIB, common tumour types) in whom lymph node involvement was detected intraoperatively. Patients were stratified according to whether the planned uterine surgery was completed (COMPL group, N Z 361) or abandoned (ABAND group, N Z 154) to compare progression-free survival. Definitive chemoradiation was given to 92.9% patients in the ABAND group and adjuvant (chemo)radiation or chemotherapy to 91.4% of patients in the COMPL group. Results: The risks of recurrence (hazard ratio [HR] 1.154, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.799 e1.666, P Z 0.45), pelvic recurrence (HR 0.836, 95% CI 0.458e1.523, P Z 0.56), or death (HR 1.064, 95% CI 0.690e1.641, P Z 0.78) were not significantly different between the two groups. No subgroup showed a survival benefit from completing radical hysterectomy. Disease-free survival reached 74% (381/515), with a median follow-up of 58 months. Prognostic factors were balanced between the two groups. FIGO stage and number of pelvic lymph nodes involved were significant prognostic factors in the whole study cohort. Conclusion:We showed that the completion of radical hysterectomy does not improve survival in patients with intraoperatively detected lymph node involvement, regardless of tumour size or histological type. If lymph node involvement is confirmed intraoperatively, abandoning uterine radical procedure should be considered, and the patient should be referred for definitive chemoradiation. Clinical trials identifier: NCT04037124.

The results of this survey indicate considerable differences in the workup and treatment of cervical cancer in current clinical practice.

PURPOSE Endometrial cancer (EC) incidence has been rising over the past 10 years. Delays in diagnosis reduce survival and necessitate more aggressive treatment. We aimed to develop and validate a simple, noninvasive, and reliable triage test for EC to reduce the number of invasive diagnostic procedures and improve patient survival. METHODS We developed a test to screen and triage women with suspected EC using 726 cervical smear samples from women with and without EC, and validated the test in 562 cervicovaginal samples using three different collection methods (cervical smear: n = 248; vaginal swab: n = 63; and self-collection: n = 251) and four different settings (case/control: n = 388; cohort of women presenting with postmenopausal bleeding: n = 63; a cohort of high-risk women with Lynch syndrome: n = 25; and a nested case/control setting from a screening cohort and samples taken up to 3 years before EC diagnosis: n = 86). RESULTS We describe the Women's cancer risk IDentification – quantitative polymerase chain reaction test for Endometrial Cancer (WID-qEC), a three-marker test that evaluates DNA methylation in gene regions of GYPC and ZSCAN12. In cervical, self-collected, and vaginal swab samples derived from symptomatic patients, it detected EC with sensitivities of 97.2% (95% CI, 90.2 to 99.7), 90.1% (83.6 to 94.6), and 100% (63.1 to 100), respectively, and specificities of 75.8% (63.6 to 85.5), 86.7% (79.3 to 92.2), and 89.1% (77.8 to 95.9), respectively. The WID-qEC identified 90.9% (95% CI, 70.8 to 98.9) of EC cases in samples predating diagnosis up to 1 year. Test performance was similar across menopausal status, age, stage, grade, ethnicity, and histology. CONCLUSION The WID-qEC is a noninvasive reliable test for triage of women with symptoms suggestive of ECs. Because of the potential for self-collection, it could improve early diagnosis and reduce the reliance for in-person visits.

This is the first pediatric study, to our knowledge, on BP control in hypertensive children using ABPM. It indicates that control of HT is inadequate in ~50% of treated children. Inadequate control of HT is associated with target organ damage in this population.

The data on the prognostic significance of low volume metastases in lymph nodes (LN) are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze the outcome of a large group of patients treated with sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy at a single referral center. Patients with cervical cancer, stage T1a-T2b, common tumor types, negative LN on preoperative staging, treated by primary surgery between 01/2007 and 12/2016, with at least unilateral SLN detection were included. Patients with abandoned radical surgery due to intraoperative SLN positivity detected by frozen section were excluded. All SLNs were postoperatively processed by an intensive protocol for pathological ultrastaging. Altogether, 226 patients were analyzed. Positive LN were detected in 38 (17%) cases; macrometastases (MAC), micrometastases (MIC), isolated tumor cells (ITC) in 14, 16, and 8 patients. With the median follow-up of 65 months, 22 recurrences occurred. Disease-free survival (DFS) reached 90% in the whole group, 93% in LN-negative cases, 89% in cases with MAC, 69% with MIC, and 87% with ITC. The presence of MIC in SLN was associated with significantly decreased DFS and OS. Patients with MIC and MAC should be managed similarly, and SLN ultrastaging should become an integral part of the management of patients with early-stage cervical cancer.

BackgroundThe management of patients with intraoperative detection of lymph node involvement remains controversial. The most significant aspect is the decision regarding the completion of the cervical procedure, such as hysterectomy, radical hysterectomy, or a fertility sparing procedure.Primary objectiveThe primary objective of the ABandoning RAd hyst in cerviX cancer (ABRAX) trial is to determine whether the completion of the cervical procedure (ie, radical hysterectomy) improves oncological outcome in patients with intraoperatively detected lymph node involvement before they are referred for definitive chemoradiation.Study hypothesisWe hypothesize that, in patients with intraoperative lymph node involvement, completion of radical hysterectomy or other cervical procedure does not improve the oncological outcome of definitive chemoradiation.Trial designThe ABRAX trial is a multicenter, retrospective, cohort study. Patients with negative lymph nodes in clinical staging, in whom lymph node involvement is detected intraoperatively, are included. Completion or abandonment of the planned cervical procedure stratifies the cohort into two subgroups in which oncological outcome and morbidity will be compared.Major Inclusion/Exclusion criteriaPatients with early stage (pT1a–pT2b) cervical cancer, who did not have positive lymph nodes on preoperative imaging, who were scheduled for primary surgical treatment, and in whom metastatic involvement of pelvic lymph node was found during surgery either as a grossly (macroscopically) involved or on intraoperative pathology assessment will be enrolled. Patients can be included irrespective of surgical approach (minimal invasive surgery or laparotomy) and type of cervical procedure performed (hysterectomy, radical hysterectomy, or a fertility sparing procedure).Primary endpointThe primary endpoint of this retrospective study is a progression free survival in two subgroups with abandoned or completed cervical procedure followed by definitive chemoradiation in both groups.Sample sizeThe assumed sample size is 718 patients (in total for both groups).Estimated dates for completing accrual and presenting resultsEstimated end of data collection: December 2019; estimated date of presenting results: Q2/3 2020.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov: NCT04037124.