New research shows that cervical cancer recurrence is more likely in women who receive minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery compared with women who undergo a traditional operation.

Laparoscopic surgery has been highly regarded as an option that allows women to recover more quickly with less risk of bleeding and infections. Access to the internal organs is through tiny slits in the abdomen that allow the operation to be performed with minimal contact with surrounding skin, muscles, tissues and organs.

The minimally invasive approach had proven safe to eliminate other types of cancer, so the findings that show it’s unsafe for many cervical cancer patients took researchers by surprise.

The New England Journal of Medicine published the results of the study last month. Dr. Pedro T. Ramirez, a gynecological cancer specialist and a lead author in one study, said that cancer research hospital M.D. Anderson has stopped allowing minimally invasive surgery as an option for women with cervical cancer diagnoses, according to The New York Times. They are choosing to exclusively perform open surgery in such cases.

John Hopkins University also has decided to at least temporarily stop minimally invasive hysterectomies for women with cervical cancer. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York is making decisions on an individual case basis, and most patients at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center are opting for the traditional open surgery.

Cases of Cervical Cancer Recurrence

Most instances of cervical cancer are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), a very common sexually transmitted virus. Many people who contract the virus have no symptoms and their immune system overcomes the virus before people even know they are infected. For unknown reasons, in some patients, HPV doesn’t fade away, but it festers and gives rise to cervical cancer and possibly other cancers.

Researchers are still trying to discern why the patients who receive minimally invasive surgery have a higher rate of cervical cancer recurrence. Because the minimally invasive surgery had been used effectively since 2006 in patients with uterine cancer, doctors expected the same results with other gynecological cancers.

Instead, the researchers found that women who receive a minimally invasive radical hysterectomy to treat cervical cancer are three times more apt to have a cervical cancer recurrence and are 65 percent more apt to die within four years compared to women who undergo a traditional operation.

Still, uterine cancer only requires the removal of the uterus. As long as the ovaries and cervix are healthy, the patient is most often advised to keep them intact. Functioning ovaries allow the body to keep producing estrogen, which can keep the patient from suddenly going into a menopausal state. The cervix is made of strong muscles that help keep the bladder and other organs in their appropriate places.

Researchers theorize that perhaps a medical instrument used in the laparoscopic operation retains cancer cells upon it that are spread as the instrument is guided or removed from the body. Another theory is that the minimally invasive procedure inadvertently leaves behind cancer cells that act as seeds that cause a cervical cancer recurrence.

When the laparoscopic procedure is performed, carbon dioxide inflates the abdominal area to allow surgeons a better view of the internal organs. Does that carbon dioxide help spread cancerous cells that are to blame for a cervical cancer recurrence? Doctors and researchers are unsure, but most are now encouraging women to opt for the traditional open surgery if they are fighting cervical cancer.

Join a Free Cervical Cancer after Hysterectomy Lawsuit Investigation

If your cervical cancer progressed after laparoscopic radical hysterectomy, or if your loved one died after such surgery, you may have a legal claim. See if you qualify to file a cervical cancer after hysterectomy lawsuit by filling out the form on this page now.

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