Aim: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping using indocyanine green (ICG) is an alternative for reducing comprehensive lymph node dissection and its associated morbidity. This trial aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of ICG for SLN detection in patients with cervical and endometrial cancers at a single academic teaching hospital.
Methods: This single-arm, open-label trial conducted at Chiba University Hospital included patients with endometrial or cervical cancer, aged 20-70 years, with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1. ICG was injected into the uterine cervix after anesthesia induction. For patients with endometrial cancer, ICG was additionally injected into the uterine myometrium after laparotomy. Imaging-assisted surgery was then performed to locate and remove the SLNs. Systematic pelvic lymph node dissection was performed as the standard procedure, with additional para-aortic lymph node dissection in selected cases.
Results: The overall and bilateral SLN detection rates were 80.4% (37/46) and 50.0% (23/46), respectively. SLN identification was successful in 37 patients. Of these, 34 had pathologically negative SLNs, and all of them showed no lymph node metastasis in the backup dissection (negative predictive value: 100%). The remaining three cases had pathologically positive SLNs. No adverse events were observed in a total of 49 enrolled patients.
Conclusions: ICG injection was found to be safe. SLN mapping using ICG has demonstrated significant potential in reducing surgical interventions and associated complications in the treatment of early-stage gynecological cancers.
