Nodal status is one of the most important prognostic factors for patients with apparentearly stage endometrial cancer. The role of retroperitoneal staging in endometrial cancer iscontroversial. Nodal status provides useful prognostic data, and allows ...
Nodal status is one of the most important prognostic factors for patients with apparentearly stage endometrial cancer. The role of retroperitoneal staging in endometrial cancer iscontroversial. Nodal status provides useful prognostic data, and allows to tailor the needof postoperative treatments. However, two independent randomized trials showed thatthe execution of (pelvic) lymphadenectomy increases the risk of having surger y-relatedcomplication without improving patients’ outcomes. Sentinel node mapping aims toachieve data regarding nodal status without increasing morbidity. Sentinel node mappingis the removal of first (clinically negative) lymph nodes draining the uterus. Several studiessuggested that sentinel node mapping is not inferior to lymphadenectomy in identif yingpatients with nodal disease. More importantly, thorough ultrastaging sentinel node mappingallows the detection of low volume disease (micrometastases and isolated tumor cells), thatare not always detectable via conventional pathological examination. Therefore, the adoptionof sentinel node mapping guarantees a higher identification of patients with nodal diseasethan lymphadenectomy. Further evidence is needed to assess the value of various adjuvantstrategies in patients with low volume disease and to tailor those treatments also on the basisof the molecular and genomic characterization of endometrial tumors.