According to recent research, when a hysterectomy is performed to treat cervical cancer, when the surgery is performed laparoscopically instead of through a more traditional, open surgery, the cervical cancer recurring is more likely.

This is bad news for many patients, who turn to the less invasive laparoscopic method, attracted by its lower complacent rate and faster recovery time.

MD Anderson Cancer Center led two studies that examined the disease return rate in hysterectomy methods. The results were surprising, showing that patients who had a hysterectomy performed through laparoscopic surgery were four times more likely to have cervical cancer returned than those who had it through more traditional open surgery.

Unfortunately, the number of deaths in patients who had the laparoscopic surgery was also higher than the number of deaths in patients who had the open surgery.

Hysterectomy is one way that cervical cancer can be treated. Happily, for people who have sate 1A or 1B cancer, and their tumors are less than 4 cm wide and is confined to the cervix, radical hysterectomy has an 80% likelihood of curing cervical cancer.

A hysterectomy is a surgery in which the uterus, cervix and parts of the vagina are removed. Fallopian tubes, ovaries and nearby lymph nodes are removed in the case of some hysterectomies. These surgeries can be conducted in number of ways.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists notes that the surgery can be performed by removing the uterus and other organs through the vagina in a vaginal hysterectomy, thought the abdomen in an open hysterectomy, or through laparoscopy, a surgery in which surgical instruments are inserted through small holes in the abdomen.

Many people choose laparoscopic hysterectomies because they come with fewer short-term complications than traditional, or open hysterectomies. The small incisions can allow for a shorter recovery time, so they are seen as an attractive alternative to open surgery.

Unfortunately, the study by MD Anderson Cancer Center suggests that in the long run, laparoscopic surgeries may be riskier than the open surgeries and may be more likely to be linked to cervical cancer recurring.

Reportedly, there was a 9.1 percent rate of death rate in patients who had had the minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, whereas in patients who had had open surgery, there was a 5.3 percent death rate.

These results were surprising to many medical professionals. The ASCO Post, a publication produced in partnership with the American Society of Clinical Oncology notes that laparoscopic hysterectomies are associated with a higher survivability related to post-operation complications. 

Additionally, experts were surprised that laparoscopic surgery was not a boon because it was associated with success in eliminating other cancers, so in the mind of many medical professionals, it seemed to make sense that it would be highly successful in preventing cervical cancer recurring.

Laparoscopic surgery has been successful in treating cancers physically near cervical cancer, including endometrial cancer.

Some hospitals like John Hopkins are pulling back on laparoscopic hysterectomies for cervical cancer or stopping them all together, but other experts are arguing that further research is needed to understand if and when laparoscopic hysterectomies may be able to be used to treat 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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