Minimally Invasive Surgery in Endometrial Cancer: Superior for Low-Risk and Comparable for High-Risk Cases in a 20-Year Cohort Study.

Abstract

Objective: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) to treat endometrial cancer offers advantages over laparotomy, although concerns about its oncological safety for high-risk tumors and feasibility in patients with significant comorbidities remain. This study evaluates perioperative and long-term outcomes of MIS versus open surgery in a tertiary referral center cohort, using FIGO 2010 and 2023 classifications.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of perioperative outcomes, recurrence rates, and survival after endometrial cancer surgery (2000-2021) at an ESGO training center and tertiary referral center in Germany. 760 patients underwent hysterectomy, and adequate data for risk classification (without molecular diagnostics) was available for 330 of them.

Results: More than one third of the patients were aged 70 years or older and approximately half of the patients were obese. A high proportion presented with comorbidities such as hypertension or diabetes. MIS demonstrated favorable perioperative results in both low-risk and high-risk patients. Survival analysis showed a superior outcome with MIS for low-risk (5-year RFS rate: 79.8% vs. 59.2%, p = 0.035; OS rate: 83.8% vs. 58.0%, p = 0.010) and FIGO 2023 stage I disease (OS: p = 0.014). The oncological safety of MIS was equivalent to that of open surgery for high-risk tumors (5-year RFS rate: 60.5% vs. 54.3%, p = 0.506; OS rate: 67.5% vs. 58.3%, p = 0.416) and FIGO 2023 stages II (RFS, p = 0.453; OS, p = 0.378) and III (RFS, p = 0.419; OS, p = 0.850).

Conclusion: MIS was found to have superior outcomes for low-risk endometrial cancer and a comparable safety for high-risk patients, including those with older age or significant comorbidities. These findings support the use of MIS approaches as viable options across diverse risk groups, in line with FIGO 2023.