AUTHOR=Wan Ting , Cai Guangyao , Gao Shangbin , Feng Yanling , Huang He , Liu Lili , Liu Jihong 

TITLE=Preoperative Evaluation of Perineural Invasion in Cervical Cancer: Development and Independent Validation of a Novel Predictive Nomogram

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.774459

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2021.774459

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=Background: Perineural invasion (PNI) is associated with a poor prognosis for cervical cancer and influences surgical strategies. However, a preoperative evaluation that can determine PNI in cervical cancer patients is lacking. 

Methods: After 1:1 propensity score matching, 162 cervical cancer patients with PNI and 162 cervical cancer patients without PNI were included in the training set. Forty-nine eligible patients were enrolled in the validation set. The PNI-positive and PNI-negative groups were compared. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to build the PNI prediction nomogram.

Results: Age (odds ratio [OR], 1.028; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.999–1.058), adenocarcinoma (OR, 1.169; 95% CI, 0.675–2.028), tumor size (OR, 1.216; 95% CI, 0.927–1.607), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (OR, 0.544; 95% CI, 0.269–1.083), lymph node enlargement (OR, 1.953; 95% CI, 1.086–3.550), deep stromal invasion (OR, 1.639; 95% CI, 0.977–2.742), and full-layer invasion (OR, 5.119; 95% CI, 2.788–9.799) were integrated in the PNI prediction nomogram based on multivariate logistic regression. The PNI prediction nomogram exhibited satisfactory performance, with areas under the curve of 0.763 (95% CI, 0.712–0.815) for the training set and 0.860 (95% CI, 0.758–0.961) for the validation set. Moreover, after reviewing the pathological slides of patients in the validation set, four patients initially diagnosed as PNI-negative were recognized as PNI-positive. All these four patients with false-negative PNI were correctly predicted to be PNI-positive (predicted p > 0.5) by the nomogram, which improved the PNI detection rate.

Conclusion: The nomogram has potential to assist clinicians when evaluating the PNI status, reduce misdiagnosis, and optimize surgical strategies for patients with cervical cancer.