Comparison of long-term survival of total abdominal radical hysterectomy and laparoscopy-assisted radical vaginal hysterectomy in patients with early cervical cancer: Korean multicenter, retrospective analysis

Purpose The aim of this study was to compare survival outcomes of total abdominal radical hysterectomy (TARH) versus laparoscopy-assisted radical vaginal hysterectomy (LARVH) in stage IA2-IB2 cervical cancer. Methods 812 patients who underwent RH between 2008 and 2017 were evaluated in 3 institutions. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier method and compared by log-rank test. The clinical noninferiority of the LARVH to TARH was assessed with a margin of −7.2%. Noninferiority was demonstrated if the low limit of 95% confidence interval (CI) exceeded its predefined margin. Results 258 patients were treated with TARH and 252 patients with LARVH. TARH and LARVH group had similar 5-year PFS (84.4% vs 86.6%, p = 0.467) and OS rates (85.8% vs 88.0%, p = 0.919). Noninferiority of LARVH to TARH were confirmed with 5-year PFS and OS difference rates of 2.2% (95% CI -2.9–7.3, p = 0.001) and 2.2% (95% CI -2.7–7.1, p = 0.001), respectively. In subgroup of patients with tumors size >2 cm, 5-year PFS (77.6% vs 79.0%, p = 0.682) and OS rates (79.2% vs 81.5%, p = 0.784) did not differ statistically between the two groups. Noninferiority of LARVH to TARH were also confirmed with 5-year PFS and OS difference rates of 1.4% (95% CI -7.0–9.8, p = 0.046) and 2.3% (95% CI -5.8–10.4, p = 0.027), respectively. Conclusion LARVH showed significant noninferiority for PFS and OS versus TARH in early cervical cancer, suggesting the potential oncologic safety of LARVH.