Lymph node size detected by magnetic resonance imaging for prediction of lymph node involvement in locally advanced cervical cancer

- OBJECTIVE: To investigate lymph node (LN) size detected by Magnetic Res-onance Imaging (MRI) for prediction of LN in-volvement in locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC).PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 55 cas-es diagnosed with LACC (IIB-IVA FIGO 2018) be-tween 28 December 2010 and 30 October 2020 were evaluated in this retrospective study. LN in-volvement was evaluated in patients who under-went surgical staging and MRI. The prediction of LN involvement based on LN size on MRI was calculated statistically.RESULTS: The mean age of 55 patients was 56 (33-78) years. For the cases, 76.4% were stage IIB, 12.7% were stage III, and 10.9% were stage IVA. Squamous cell histological type was de-tected with a rate of 90.9%. The cut-off value for pelvic LN diameter on MRI in predicting pel-vic LN involvement was 18.5 mm, and the sensi-tivity and specificity values were calculated as 50.0% and 93.6%, respectively (p=0.027). The cut-off value for pelvic and para-aortic LN diam-eter on MRI in predicting pelvic and para-aortic LN involvement was 17.0 mm with a sensitivity of 41.7% and specificity of 88.4% (p=0.081).CONCLUSIONS: In LACC, prediction of LN in-volvement by LN diameter detected on MRI has moderate sensitivity and high specificity with a cut-off value of 17.0 mm.