Gynecologic organ involvement and incidental gynecologic organ neoplasms in female patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder undergoing anterior pelvic exenteration in Rajavithi Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the pathological data of the bladder and gynecologic organs obtained from anterior pelvic exenteration and review the incidence of gynecologic organ involvement and primary gynecologic tumor. Materials and Methods: The clinicopathological data of 70 patients who were diagnosed with bladder transitional cell carcinoma and underwent anterior pelvic exenteration in Rajavithi Hospital between January 2008 and October 2020 were analyzed to examine and determine any correlations. Results: Thirteen (18.5%) patients had gynecologic organ involvement. This consisted of 4 cases (5.7%) involving the uterus, 7 (10%) involving the vagina, 2 (2.8%) involving the ovaries, and 10 (14.2%) involving the cervix. Female patients with gynecologic organ invasion were more likely to have a high pathological T stage (p < 0.001), and have pre-operative hydronephrosis (p = 0.002). From multivariate logistic regression, pre-operative hydronephrosis was associated with increased risk of gynecologic organ invasion (odds ratio 9.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.86 - 49.18; p = 0.007). There were 23 (32%) female patients incidentally diagnosed with benign gynecologic tumors, specifically 16 (22%) cases of myoma uteri, 7 (10%) of adenomyosis and 4 (2.8%) with ovarian cysts. No patient was diagnosed as having primary gynecologic malignancy. Conclusions: The incidence of gynecologic organ involvement in female patients who had undergone anterior pelvic exenteration for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder was 18.5%. Pre-operative hydronephrosis was a risk factor associated with increased risk of gynecologic organ involvement. Information from this study may allow better identification of candidates for gynecologic organ sparing surgery.