[Radical trachelectomy -- surgery for preserving woman's fertility in patients with invasive cervical cancer].

For the past 15 years gynecological oncologists have been seeking ways to preserve woman's fertility when treating invasive cervical cancer. Many cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed in young woman who wish to preserve their fertility. As more women are delaying childbearing, fertility preservation has become an important consideration. The standard surgical treatment for stage IA2-IB1 cervical cancer is a radical hysterectomy and bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy. This surgery includes removal of the uterus and cervix, radical resection of the parametrial tissue and upper vagina, and complete pelvic lymphadenectomy. Obviously, the standard treatment does not allow future childbearing. For some women with small localized invasive cervical cancers, there is hope for pregnancy after treatment. Radical trachelectomy is a fertility-sparing surgical approach developed in France in 1994 by Dr. Daniel Dargent for the treatment of early invasive cervical cancer. The radical trachelectomy operation has been described and performed abdominally, assisted vaginally by laparoscopy and robotically.