Vascular Changes and Surgical Risk in Cervical vs. Endometrial Cancer After Radiotherapy: A Retrospective Cohort...

Radiotherapy is a cornerstone of treatment for cervical and endometrial cancers but is associated with vascular and perivascular changes that can increase surgical complexity and perioperative morbidity. While these effects are well documented in head, neck, and mediastinal irradiation, the pelvic vasculature remains underexplored.

We retrospectively analyzed 119 patients who underwent pelvic oncologic surgery after RT (57.1% cervical cancer, 42.9% endometrial cancer). Intraoperative vascular findings were recorded and correlated with tumor type, perioperative complications, and vascular injury. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of perioperative morbidity.

Perivascular fibrosis (21.8%) and inflammatory thrombosis (10.1%) were the most frequent intraoperative vascular changes, with no significant differences between tumor types. Most patients required no vascular procedure; when needed, simple venorrhaphy was sufficient, and no complex vascular reconstructions were performed. Perioperative complications occurred more frequently in cervical cancer patients (RR = 2.66; p = 0.02), with hemorrhage and urinary tract injury being the most common. Cervical tumor site and perivascular fibrosis were borderline predictors of complications.

Neoadjuvant RT induces measurable intraoperative vascular changes without significantly increasing major vascular injury, particularly in experienced surgical settings. Cervical cancer patients represent a higher-risk subgroup, underscoring the need for meticulous surgical planning and multidisciplinary perioperative management. Perivascular fibrosis may serve as a marker for operative risk stratification, and long-term vascular surveillance is warranted due to the potential for delayed macrovascular events.