Abstract: Background and purpose: Cervical cancer is a common type of gynecological malignant tumor. This study aimed to analyze the association between peripheral nerve invasion (PNI) and recurrence risk factors in cervical cancer. Methods: This study collected the clinical data of 65 patients with ⅠA2-ⅡA cervical cancer who underwent operation in Tongling Maternal and Children Health Care Hospital from Mar. 2010 to Mar. 2018, in accordance with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage. The relationship between the PNI of cervical cancer and other clinicopathological features and the significance of the prognosis of cervical cancer were studied, and the correlation of the risk factors for invasion and the recurrence of cervical cancer was analyzed. Results: The results showed that PNI positivity was correlated with lymph node positivity, surgical margin positivity and vascular invasion positivity (P<0.05). However, there was no correlation between the PNI positivity and the clinical stage, the degree of differentiation, the pathological type, the size of the tumor and the depth of tumor invasion (P>0.05). The follow-up results showed that the 5-year recurrence-free survival rate of the PNI positive group was significantly lower than that of the negative group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the 5-year survival rate between the PNI positive group and the negative group (P>0.05). The results of all COX multivariate analyses showed that low degree of differentiation, infiltration of deep myometrium and metastasis of pelvic lymph nodes were main risk factors (P<0.05), which were not independent prognostic factors for the survival of patients after cervical cancer operation (P>0.05). Conclusion: Cervical cancer nerve invasion can significantly reduce patient’s 5-year recurrence-free survival rate, which belongs to one of the pathways of cervical cancer metastasis. It can be used as a high-risk factor for postoperative recurrence, which can guide adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage cervical cancer.

Key words: Cervical cancer, Peripheral nerve invasion, High-risk factors for recurrence