title: Intraoperative lymphatic mapping techniques for endometrial cancer.
abstract: Endometrial cancer is the most common malignancy of the female genital tract in developed countries. The primary treatment for women with endometrial cancer is surgical, as well as the staging of the pathological spread pattern of this carcinoma outside of the uterus. A complete surgical staging should include both pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy. The vast majority of endometrial cancers are diagnosed at a very early stage owing to the early presentation as abnormal uterine bleeding. In women with early-stage endometrial cancer the systematic pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy may produce additional morbidity without the benefit of appropriate surgical staging. The procedure of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy after lymphatic mapping has been introduced for patients with cancers of various organs in an effort to avoid complete systematic lymphadenectomy whenever possible. In the case of gynecological malignancies, the reliability of the SLN detection procedure has been extensively investigated in vulvar and cervical cancer. This article focuses on the peculiar aspects of intraoperative lymphatic mapping techniques and SLN procedures in endometrial cancer.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Pathophysiology of Human Reproduction, Department of Surgery, Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Imaging, University of Cagliari, Ospedale 'San Giovanni di Dio', Via Ospedale 46, 09124 Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mais
authors.forename: Maria Giuseppina
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Cirronis
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Piras
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Silvetti
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cossu
authors.forename: Gian Benedetto
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Melis
mesh_terms: D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000379:methods; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods*