Indocyanine Green Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping as a Tool for Personalized Surgical Management in Uterine Corpus Cancer: A Single-Center Comparative Study.

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate the usefulness and safety of sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping in comparison to other types of lymph node dissection in patients with uterine corpus cancers.

Methods

Retrospective data from 161 patients subjected to uterine corpus cancer staging with SLN mapping with indocyanine green (ICG) dye were collected.

Results

SLN procedure was associated with a complication rate of 0%, a median number of dissected lymph nodes of 2 (range 0-13), and a median hospitalization following surgery of 5 (range:2-23) days. Systemic lymphadenectomy and one-sided pelvic lymph node resection were associated with the highest percentage of complications (12% and 25%; p = 0.0030), while the post-surgery course was uneventful for the selective lymphadenectomy group and SLN. Complication rates were the highest in patients with obesity and severe obesity (5.1% and 9.1%, respectively). The number of lymph nodes resected dropped numerically with increasing BMI. Successful ICG injection and SLN mapping were significantly more frequent in SLN procedures.

Conclusions

Our study showed that SLN mapping was characterized by a low complication rate and short hospitalization following surgery, and obesity appeared to be related to a higher complication rate. Tailored surgical strategies and individualized patient selection are crucial for the success of SLN mapping; therefore, factors associated with successful SLN mapping with ICG need further exploration.