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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gynecological Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1525946
This article is part of the Research Topic Prognostic Biomarkers and Gene Signatures in Endometrial, Ovarian, and Cervical Cancer View all 5 articles

Risk Factors for Pelvic Lymph Node Metastasis in Cervical Cancer: A Retrospective Analysis of 186 Patients

Provisionally accepted
Xingyu Sun Xingyu Sun 1Lijuan He Lijuan He 2Shaohua Wang Shaohua Wang 3*
  • 1 Department of Gynecology, The Affiliated Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan Province, China
  • 2 The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
  • 3 Department of Pathology, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, 25 Taiping Street, Luzhou, China., Luzhou, Sichuan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Pelvic lymph node metastasis is a critical factor influencing prognosis and treatment strategies in cervical cancer patients. This study aimed to identify significant clinical and pathological risk factors associated with pelvic lymph node metastasis in patients with cervical cancer.We conducted a retrospective analysis of 186 cervical cancer patients treated at the Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University from January 2010 to December 2020. Patients were divided into two groups: those with pelvic lymph node metastasis (n=40) and those without (n=146). Data on demographics, clinical characteristics, pathological features, and treatment modalities were collected. Statistical analysis included t-tests, chi-square tests, and logistic regression to evaluate potential risk factors for lymph node metastasis.Patients with pelvic lymph node metastasis were significantly older (mean age 52.5 ± 8.3 years) than those without metastasis (mean age 48.7 ± 10.2 years; p=0.023). Highrisk HPV positivity was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (75% vs. 41%, p=0.001). Lymphovascular invasion was observed in 75% of the metastatic group compared to 24.7% in the non-metastatic group (p<0.001). Tumor size >4 cm was more frequent in patients with metastasis (50% vs. 12.3%, p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified high-risk HPV infection (OR 4.13, 95% CI: 2.09-8.17, p<0.001), lymphovascular invasion (OR 7.87, 95% CI: 4.05-15.29, p<0.001), and tumor size >4 cm (OR 6.24, 95% CI: 3.24-12.02, p<0.001) as independent risk factors for pelvic lymph node metastasis.This study identifies several independent risk factors for pelvic lymph node metastasis in cervical cancer, including high-risk HPV infection, lymphovascular invasion, and tumor size greater than 4 cm. These findings can help guide clinical decision-making and individualized treatment planning, improving outcomes for patients with cervical cancer. Further prospective studies are warranted to validate these findings.

    Keywords: cervical cancer, Pelvic lymph node metastasis, high-risk HPV, lymphovascular invasion, tumor size, Risk factors

    Received: 10 Nov 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Sun, He and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Shaohua Wang, Department of Pathology, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, 25 Taiping Street, Luzhou, China., Luzhou, Sichuan Province, China

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