Sentinel lymph node detection with indocyanine green and patent blue dye in cervical cancer: A single-centre feasibility study.

Background: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) dissection has been established as standard of care in many tumours. Its use in early cervical cancer is an area of increasing interest and some studies suggest a high detection rate.

Aim: To explore feasibility of SLN dissection and establish the patient detection rate in women with early cervical cancer.

Materials and methods: All patients with early cervical cancer, International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2018 Stage 1, of any histology who underwent SLN dissection from January 2017 to March 2023 were included. Patients were eligible if they had pelvic confined disease; no suspicious lymph nodes on pre-operative imaging or intra-operatively; tumours <4 cm at the time of surgery and no contra-indications to surgery. Patients were excluded if there was a known allergy to dye or less than six months follow-up data.

Results: Sixty-two patients were included in the study and 53% had FIGO stage 1b1 disease. The overall bilateral SLN detection rate was 89%, and the side-specific rate was 94%. Where indocyanine green (ICG) was used alone, the bilateral detection rate was 87% and the side-specific rate was 93%. Where ICG was used with patent blue dye (PTB) the bilateral detection rate was 92% and the side-specific rate was 96%. Where PTB was used alone the bilateral detection rate was 85% and the side-specific rate was 92%. The node positive rate was 6% (7/124) which included isolated tumour cells in four patients.

Conclusion: SLN dissection with ICG or PTB is feasible in early-stage cervical cancer.