Endometrial cancer and its management.
Endometrial cancer is an increasingly common cancer in affluent Western countries, largely due to the increasing obesity of those populations. Type I endometrial cancer is the more common phenotypic picture, being that of an obese postmenopausal woman, and comprises approximately 80% of endometrial cancers. Type II endometrial cancer describes a woman who is often younger and thinner, with a more aggressive histological type that is non-estrogen dependent, of either serous or clear-cell histology, and has a more aggressive clinical course and resultant poorer prognosis. The standard surgical procedure is an extrafascial total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, with or without pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy. The safety of a laparoscopic approach in the surgical management of uterine cancer has not yet been demonstrated in prospective randomized trials. Surgical staging of endometrial cancer, including a pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy, allows appropriately tailored postoperative radiotherapy. Teletherapy or vaginal brachytherapy may reduce the risk of pelvic recurrent disease in high-risk patients.
University of Sydney, Sydney Gynaecologic Oncology Group, Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Missenden Road, Camperdown, NSW, 2050 Australia. jocarter@mail.usyd.edu.au.
Selvan
S
Pather
Michael
M
O'Leary
Jonathan
J
Carter