[Relation between ovarian cancer and metastasis to pelvic lymph nodes]

In our hospital, from Jan. 1983 to Oct. 1984, 20 patients with a variety of primary ovarian cancers was treated by radical operation: total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, omentumectomy and unilateral or bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy to study the metastatic condition in the pelvic lymph nodes. In 20 patients with primary ovarian cancer, 6 had positive pelvic lymph nodes, amounting to 30%. 12 stage I and II lesions of these 14 patients were negative in these nodes when first operated. But 2 patients with stage III lesions were positive, amounting to 14%. 6 patients underwent a second operation. Among them, 2 who had supplementary operation, were negative in the pelvic lymph nodes. The other 4 patients who had recurrence after the first operation were positive in the second one, amounting to 67%. Therefore, for the advanced, poorly-differentiated, infiltrative or recurrent cases, pelvic lymphadenectomy should be considered in addition to radical operation.