Objective The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of ovarian metastasis (OM) in adenocarcinoma (ADC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in early-stage cervical cancer and evaluate the safety of ovarian preservation in early-stage ADC.

Methods To perform a meta-analysis to compare the incidence of OM between early-stage ADC and SCC, we searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane for observational studies that compared it with pathological evidence after radical hysterectomy and oophorectomy. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated with a fixed effects model. We also found a few articles evaluating the oncological prognosis of patients with ovarian preservation to perform a systematic review.

Results A total of 5 studies were included in the meta-analyses. The incidence of OM of patients with early-stage ADC and SCC were 2% and 0.4%, respectively (odds ratio, 5.27; 95% confidence interval, 2.14–13.45). In 1427 patients with ADC or SCC of the cervix FIGO stage (CIS-IIA) who underwent hysterectomy, no ovarian recurrences were observed after unilateral or bilateral ovarian preservation in ADC patients in the follow-up (30–68 months); however, 15 patients with SCC developed pelvic recurrence.

Conclusions Although the incidence of OM was higher in early-stage ADC than SCC according to ovarian pathology, it might be relatively safe to perform ovarian preservation with early-stage ADC because of low ovarian recurrence rate in short-term follow-ups.