Para-Aortic Lymph Node Staging and Oncologic Outcomes in Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer: A Narrative Review

Background: Para-aortic lymph node involvement is present in approximately 17–24% of women with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) and is one of the strongest adverse prognostic factors in this population. Current international guidelines recommend two alternative staging techniques: the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and European Society of Gynecologic Oncology (ESGO) endorse imaging-based staging as the primary method to define radiation fields, whereas the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) lists pre-treatment minimally invasive para-aortic lymphadenectomy as a Category 2B recommendation. Objective: We aimed to review and critically appraise the available evidence on the oncologic impact (progression-free and overall survival) of pre-treatment surgical para-aortic staging compared with clinical imaging-based staging in women with LACC. Methods: We searched MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), ClinicalTrials.gov, and Scopus from inception to January 2026, complemented by manually searching the reference lists for relevant articles and prior reviews. The review focused on comparative studies of women with LACC of squamous, adenocarcinoma, or adenosquamous histology—operationally defined as FIGO 2009 stages IB2–IVA with pelvic nodal involvement or FIGO 2018 stages IB3–IVA who received definitive-intent radiotherapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy and brachytherapy, and for whom comparative survival outcomes between a surgical-staging arm and an imaging-staging arm were reported. For this manuscript, a narrative review style was planned and reported in line with SANRA (Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles) quality criteria. Results: Twelve studies were included: two randomized controlled trials and ten observational studies (nine retrospective cohorts and one population-based analysis). Surgical staging consistently increased detection of occult para-aortic disease and led to more frequent use of extended-field radiotherapy (18–44%), but it did not yield a reproducible advantage in terms of progression-free or overall survival over imaging-guided chemoradiation. Conclusions: In LACC, pre-treatment surgical para-aortic staging improves anatomic and prognostic information but has not shown a consistent survival advantage over imaging-based staging combined with contemporary chemoradiation. Current comparative evidence does not support routine surgical staging, and its use still warrants further prospective evaluation in large clinical trials. Until results from ongoing phase III trials are available, surgical staging should be considered an individualized option in highly selected cases within multidisciplinary decision-making at experienced clinical centers.