Objective The standard treatment for early-stage cervical cancer includes radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymph node staging ± bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Para-aortic lymphadenectomy may be considered; however, its role remains controversial. The objective of this study was to assess the para-aortic lymph node recurrence rate in patients undergoing surgery for apparent early-stage cervical cancer without para-aortic lymph node surgical staging.

Methods This is a retrospective cohort study including all consecutive patients with presumed early-stage (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2018 IA1–IB2, IIA1) cervical cancer who underwent radical surgery at the European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy. Pelvic lymph node assessment included sentinel lymph node biopsy and/or systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy. Patients who underwent para-aortic lymphadenectomy or had an indication to receive adjuvant para-aortic radiotherapy were excluded. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate 5-year recurrence-free survival.

Results Overall, 432 patients were included. The median age was 43.7 years (IQR 38.1–51.6). Sixteen (3.7%) patients were staged IA1 at diagnosis, 24 (5.6%) IA2, 208 (48.1%) IB1, 177 (41%) IB2, and 7 (1.6%) IIA1. At final pathology, the stage distribution was as follows: 36 (8.3%) stage IA1–IA2, 323 (74.8%) stage IB1–IB3, 17 (3.9%) stage II, and 56 (13%) stage IIIC1. Eighty-two patients (19%) underwent concurrent pelvic chemoradiotherapy, 20 (4.6%) radiotherapy alone, and 3 (0.7%) chemotherapy alone. Thirty-eight (8.8%) patients experienced a recurrence with a median time of 18 months (IQR 12–29). The median follow-up time for the remaining 394 (91.2%) patients was 70 months (IQR 36–98). Two patients (0.5%) had a recurrence in the para-aortic lymph nodes. The 5-year recurrence-free survival in the overall cohort was 90% (95% CI 87.4% to 93.3%).

Conclusion Given the low rate of para-aortic lymph node recurrence in surgically treated early-stage cervical cancer and the well-established peri-operative complications associated with para-aortic lymphadenectomy, our study aligns with recent evidence supporting the omission of this procedure in such patients.