2023 Volume 41 Issue 2 Pages 218-226
Vaginal stump cytology is a test to detect recurrence in postoperative follow-up management for malignant uterine tumors. We investigated the role of vaginal stump cytology after endometrial cancer surgery. We examined 5,053 vaginal stump cytology tests performed after hysterectomy for 399 endometrial cancers at our center during the ten years from 2011 to 2020, including 344 Stage I, 14 Stage II, 28 Stage III, and 13 Stage IV cancers. The average age of the patients was 60.6 years, and the average observation period was 40 months. Recurrence occurred in 24 cases. The tests that detected recurrence were vaginal stump cytology in 2 patients with Stage III and IV cancers, serum CA125 in 7 patients, and computed tomography (CT) in 15 cases. The efficacy rate of vaginal stump cytology was 8.3%in the relapsed cases. In 399 cases, the cost of detecting recurrence every case was 7,579,500 yen for vaginal stump cytology, 1,001,400 yen for serum CA125, and 1,230,593 yen for CT. The cost of vaginal stump cytology limited to Stage III and IV was 916,500 yen. We concluded that vaginal stump cytology was appropriate for Stage III and IV cases as a screening test after endometrial cancer surgery.
