Objectives The objective of this study was to assess the effect of extensive lymphadenectomy on survival of early-stage cervical cancer patients with radical hysterectomy followed by adjuvant radiotherapy (RT).

Materials and Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on early-stage patients with high-risk factors who received radical hysterectomy with lymphadenectomy followed by adjuvant RT. All patients were divided into the less than or equal to 40 dissected pelvic lymph nodes (DPLN ⩽40) and greater than 40 dissected pelvic lymph nodes (DPLN >40) groups to assess the effect of extensive lymphadenectomy. Distributions of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Significance of survival was assessed by the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to assess the effects of the factors on survival by univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results After a median follow-up of 76 months for a total of 178 patients, 5-year DFS of the DPLN >40 group was significantly higher than that of the DPLN ⩽40 group (86% vs 74%, P = 0.045). Five-year OS was comparable between the 2 groups (85% vs 78%, P = 0.49). The multivariate analysis showed that the DPLN ⩽40 group was at a significantly higher risk of recurrence (hazard ratio, 2.3; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.1–4.8; P = 0.020), whereas OS was not affected by the DPLN group (P = 0.26). Positive pelvic lymph node, parametrial invasion, histological type, and the absence of RT-combined chemotherapy remained significant prognostic factors for lower DFS and OS by the multivariate analysis. Adjusted hazard ratio of DPLN ⩽40 for DFS was 1.2 (95% CI, 0.11–12; P = 0.91) in patients with negative pelvic lymph node (PLN) whereas it was 2.6 (95% CI, 1.1–5.8; P = 0.024) in patients with positive PLN.

Conclusions These results suggest that more extensive lymphadenectomy significantly improve the outcomes of patients with positive PLN even followed by adjuvant RT.