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Endometrial cancer

• Overview
• Symptoms
• Treatment
• Prevention

Alternative Names:

Endometrial/uterine adenocarcinoma; Uterine cancer; Adenocarcinoma of the endometrium/uterus; Cancer - uterine; Cancer - endometrial; Uterine corpus cancer

Treatment:

Treatment options involve surgery, radiation therapy , and chemotherapy.

A hysterectomy may be performed in women with the early stage 1 disease. Removal of the tubes and ovaries (bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy) is also usually recommended.

Abdominal hysterectomy is recommended over vaginal hysterectomy. This type of hysterectomy allows the surgeon to look inside the abdominal area and remove tissue for a biopsy.

Surgery combined with radiation therapy is often used to treat women with stage 1 disease that could return and stage 2 disease. Chemotherapy may be considered in some cases, especially for those with stage 3 and 4 disease.

Support Groups:

The stress of illness may be eased by joining a support group whose members share common experiences and problems. See cancer - support group .

Expectations (prognosis):

Endometrial cancer is usually diagnosed at an early stage. The 1-year survival rate is about 94%.

The 5-year survival rate for endometrial cancer that has not spread is 96%. If the cancer has spread to distant organs, the 5-year survival rate drops to 25%.

Complications:

Complications may include anemia due to blood loss. A perforation (hole) of the uterus may occur during a D and C or endometrial biopsy .

Calling your health care provider:

Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you have abnormal vaginal bleeding or any other symptoms of endometrial cancer. This is particularly important if you have any associated risk factors or if you have not had routine pelvic exams.

Any of the following symptoms should be reported immediately to the doctor:

• Bleeding or spotting after intercourse or douching
• Bleeding lasting longer than 7 days
• Periods that occur every 21 days or less
• Bleeding or spotting after 6 months or more of no bleeding at all

References:

American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures 2006. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society; 2006.

Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Niederhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKena WG. Clinical Oncology . 3rd ed. Orlando, Fl: Churchill Livingstone; 2004:2273-2304.

• Review Date: 9/11/2006
• Reviewed By: Rita Nanda, M.D., Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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