Clinical significance of detection of micrometastases in lymph nodes in ovarian cancer

Abstract

Ovarian cancer of epithelial origin is the most common type of oncological process in this organ and is characterized by a high probability of fatal outcome. It is believed that this is due to insufficiently effective diagnosis of the prevalence and severity of this disease. This review presents data on the development of disease recurrence in a significant number of patients after cytoreductive surgery. According to some authors, the reason for the high risk of recurrence is the insufficient information content of the method of studying histological preparations of regional lymph nodes after staining with hematoxylin and eosin to detect small-sized metastases, including isolated tumor cells and micrometastases. To improve the accuracy of such diagnostics, it is recommended to supplement the study of multilevel sections of lymph nodes using routine staining with the use of immunohistochemistry and other methods using various antibodies to cytokeratins, along with other epithelial markers. The review provides an analysis of the opinions of various researchers on the prognostic significance of the detection of micrometastases in the lymph nodes, which can increase the effectiveness of therapy due to a more accurate assessment of the prevalence of the disease and correction of the tactics of treating patients with various oncological diseases.