Endometrial cancer is cancer that forms in the lining of the womb, which is called the endometrium. It is the Fourth most common cancer for women in the United States and influences 1 in 50 women.
The good news? Doctors have many tools for treating endometrial cancer, and they work well, especially when the cancer is caught early. More than 80% of women with the diagnosis of endometrial cancer Five years later – And this number jumps to 95% if the cancer has not spread outside the womb.
Insight into the treatment options for endometrial cancer – including surgery, radiation and medication – can help you prepare for the road that lies for us. We spoke with Nita Lee, MDAssociation teacher of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago, about how endometrial cancer is treated.
What types of surgery are used for endometrial cancer?
Nowadays, the most common operation is minimally invasive (done by small cuts) laparoscopic or robot surgery. We use this type of operation for most endometrial cancer patients to remove the uterus and fallopian tubes and to collect information about the lymph nodes.
If patients have more advanced disease that has spread to the lymph nodes or ovaries, or if the uterus is too large to do at least invasive surgery, they may have to undergo an open abdominal operation.
What role does radiotherapy play in the treatment of endometrial cancer?
Radiation therapy is usually used as an additional treatment after the operation. Care after surgery, called post-operative care, can sometimes include radiation therapy based on certain findings at the time of surgery.
For example, if a person has certain risk factors in the womb, his care provider (HCP) could recommend that he has vaginal radiation, or perhaps more involved pelvic radiation. Or if they have certain factors, such as cancer found in the cervix after it was surgically removed, they may need radiation from the pelvic area.
Some patients with more advanced disease involving the lymph nodes receive radiation in addition to chemotherapy. Occasionally, patients who are not eligible for surgery and who do not want fertility -saving treatment only get radiation, but that is quite rare. It really varies, depending on the patient.
Which systemic (total body) treatments are used for endometrial cancer?
- Chemotherapy Is the backbone of treatment for patients diagnosed in an advanced stage. For example, if we find during the operation that a person has stage 3 or 4 cancer, they often receive chemotherapy as part of their treatment plan after the operation.
People with stage 1 disease that have certain high-risk cell types also receive chemotherapy after surgery.
- Immunotherapy is a newer form of therapy. It is similar to chemotherapy because the medicine is given through an IV, but immunotherapy medication work differently in the body.
Although chemotherapy medicines usually work on the cancer cells themselves, immunotherapy is designed to help your body’s immune system attack the cancer.
One of the ways in which cancer cells are received by your immune system is by hiding or making certain proteins, so that your body does not recognize the cancer cells as poor. Immunotherapy helps to discover the cancer.
Immunotherapy works best for certain categories of endometrial cancer, which means that for some people it works better than others. It has been a game changer for recurring endometrial cancer patients, as well as in patients who are diagnosed in an advanced stage.
- Hormone therapy is used for endometrial cancers that are an estrogen receptor or progesterone receptor positive, which means that the cancer cells contain receptors for estrogen or progesterone. We manipulate these receptors with hormones to try to treat the cancer.
- Targeted therapy Destroys cancer cells without harming other cells. Probably the most famous target HER2 is a protein that we often hear about when we talk about breast cancer. Recently research Shows a connection between endometrial cancer and HER2, and targeted therapy can help.
Are fertility -saving treatments available for endometrial cancer?
Yes. Hormone therapy is the most common treatment for patients who are concerned about fertility. We usually tend to limit fertility treatment to patients with stage 1 disease and patients with species of lower risks endometrial cancer (versus with risky cell types).
Which factors are considered when making treatment decisions?
Many of our treatment decisions are based on the molecular profile of the patient, which looks at the tumor cells and the biomarkers and tells us exactly what kind of endometrial cancer they have and whether the tumor will respond to certain treatments. We also look at other health problems they can have and their goals for treatment, and we always want to balance the quality of life.
This educational source was made with the support of Karyopharm.
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