Diagnostic Lymphadenectomy

Diagnostic Lymphadenectomy Diagnostic lymphadenectomy, or lymph node sampling, is an important component of the staging procedure in women with epithelial ovarian cancer apparently confined to the ovary. Approximately 30% of patients with apparent early-stage ovarian carcinoma are upstaged when comprehensive surgical staging is performed (21). Up to 23% of women with apparent stage I ovarian cancer have occult nodal disease (22). The incidence of nodal disease increases with substage. Lymph node metastases are found in 2% to 13% of stage IA, 15% to 56% of stage IB, and 14% to 38% of apparent stage IC tumors (14,23,24). Likewise, lymphatic spread appears to increase with tumor grade (14,23,25). Finally, several studies have reported that the propensity for nodal spread appears related to histologic subtype, with the risk of lymphatic metastasis being lowest in women with mucinous tumors (14,22,24).