The Lancet Online First today cited a study regarding reappearance of endometrial cancer. It was already observed that pelvic lymphadenectomy alone has no remedial benefit in endometrial cancer. Now in the study it has been found that if systematic removal of the para-aortic lymph with pelvic lymph nodes is conducted, it can result in survival of females from endometrial cancer. For this conclusion survival figures of 671 patients were studied among which, (325 women underwent systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy and 346 had pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy done for endometrial cancer at two expert centers in Japan from 1986 to 2004.

It was concluded that the risk of death in women with the complete procedure was almost half that of women who got only their pelvic lymph nodes removed. And among the 407 patients with risk of cancer return had a 56% lesser risk of death if they had opted for complete procedure.

Professor Noriaki Sakuragi and Dr Yukiharu Todo, the authors, elaborated, "Findings from the SEPAL study have shown that para-aortic lymphadenectomy has survival benefits for patients at intermediate or high risk of recurrence, and that pelvic lymphadenectomy alone might be an insufficient surgical procedure for endometrial cancer in patients at risk of lymph node metastasis. Combined pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy is recommended as treatment for patients with endometrial carcinoma of intermediate or high risk of recurrence".