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Review
. 2025 Sep 18;17(18):3049.
doi: 10.3390/cancers17183049.

Defining Standard Data Reporting in Pelvic Exenterations for Non-Rectal Cancers: A Systematic Review of Current Data Reporting

PelvEx Collaborative
Collaborators
Review

Defining Standard Data Reporting in Pelvic Exenterations for Non-Rectal Cancers: A Systematic Review of Current Data Reporting

PelvEx Collaborative. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Introduction: Pelvic exenteration (PEx) was first described in the 1940s as a palliative procedure in managing cervical cancer. Since then, advancements in perioperative care have transformed the options available to patients. This highly morbid procedure now offers a "cure" in a select cohort of patients with locally advanced and recurrent pelvic cancers. The large volume of literature in this field has resulted in a heterogeneity of data reporting, making comparative analysis extremely difficult. As such, we set out to examine the current literature and identify currently reported outcomes to guide development of a core information set (CIS) for data reporting for PEx in non-rectal cancers.

Methods: A systematic review was carried out. Studies reporting on outcomes following PEx for advanced and recurrent gynecological, urological, and other non-rectal malignancies were included. Standardized outcomes were extracted and mapped to pre-determined domains.

Results: Forty-four studies were found to meet our inclusion criteria. A total of 1735 data elements (DEs) were extracted verbatim, and these were assimilated into 111 standard DEs across nine domains. A wide range of reporting frequencies was observed, with the pathological domain containing the highest overall frequencies of DE reporting. Conversely, patient-reported and functional outcomes were noted to be the domain with the lowest frequency.

Conclusions: This review highlights recent trends of increased reporting in the field of PEx and how this had invariably resulted in heterogeneous data reporting. We aim to guide the development of a CIS for reporting in non-rectal pelvic malignancies to help standardize future reporting.

Keywords: bladder cancer; cervical cancer; core outcome sets; locally advanced gynecological cancer; locally advanced pelvic malignancies; locally advanced urological cancer; locally recurrent gynecological cancer; locally recurrent pelvic cancer; locally recurrent urological malignancies; non-rectal cancer; outcomes; ovarian cancer; pelvic exenteration; prostate cancer; vaginal cancer; vulvar cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors has any conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram (using a PRISMA template) outlining progression of studies throughout the review process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias associated with observational studies (n = 44).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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