Cancer of the Endometrium

Abstract

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer in women. Most patients are in the early stages at diagnosis and have a favorable prognosis. Minimally invasive hysterectomy is the cornerstone of management. The optimal approach to surgical assessment of lymph nodes is controversial. A minority of early-stage patients have tumors with high-risk features that warrant further treatment, usually vaginal brachytherapy. Patients with advanced disease generally require multimodality treatment to achieve the best outcomes. Selected patients desiring future childbearing can be treated with fertility-sparing options. Routine immunohistochemistry on tumor specimens looking for expression of mismatch repair proteins is an effective method to screen for Lynch syndrome.   This review contains 4 figures, 3 tables and 30 references Key Words: adenocarcinoma, chemotherapy, endometrial cancer, lymphadenectomy, Lynch, Progestin, radiation, sentinel, uterus