Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Oct;155 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):45-60.
doi: 10.1002/ijgo.13866.

Cancer of the corpus uteri: 2021 update

Affiliations

Cancer of the corpus uteri: 2021 update

Martin Koskas et al. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecological malignancy in high- and middle-income countries. Although the overall prognosis is relatively good, high-grade endometrial cancers have a tendency to recur. Recurrence needs to be prevented since the prognosis for recurrent endometrial cancer is dismal. Treatment tailored to tumor biology is the optimal strategy to balance treatment efficacy against toxicity. Since The Cancer Genome Atlas defined four molecular subgroups of endometrial cancers, the molecular factors are increasingly used to define prognosis and treatment. Standard treatment consists of hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Lymphadenectomy (and increasingly sentinel node biopsy) enables identification of lymph node-positive patients who need adjuvant treatment, including radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Adjuvant therapy is used for Stage I-II patients with high-risk factors and Stage III patients; chemotherapy is especially used in non-endometrioid cancers and those in the copy-number high molecular group characterized by TP53 mutation. In advanced disease, a combination of surgery to no residual disease and chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy results in the best outcome. Surgery for recurrent disease is only advocated in patients with a good performance status with a relatively long disease-free interval.

Keywords: FIGO Cancer Report; chemotherapy; corpus uteri; endometrial cancer; gynecologic cancer; radiotherapy; surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Outside of the submitted work, MK reports receipt of travel fees for surgical training from Intuitive Surgical. The other authors report no conflicts of interest.

Similar articles

  • Cancer of the corpus uteri.
    Amant F, Mirza MR, Koskas M, Creutzberg CL. Amant F, et al. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2018 Oct;143 Suppl 2:37-50. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.12612. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2018. PMID: 30306580
  • [Synchronous primary cancers of the endometrium and ovary: review of 43 cases].
    Ma SK, Zhang HT, Sun YC, Wu LY. Ma SK, et al. Zhonghua Zhong Liu Za Zhi. 2008 Sep;30(9):690-4. Zhonghua Zhong Liu Za Zhi. 2008. PMID: 19173912 Chinese.
  • Role of adjuvant therapy in stage IIIC2 endometrial cancer.
    Bogani G, Cappuccio S, Casarin J, Narasimhulu DMM, Cilby WA, Glaser GE, Weaver AL, McGree ME, Keeney GL, Weroha J, Petersen IA, Mariani A. Bogani G, et al. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2020 Aug;30(8):1169-1176. doi: 10.1136/ijgc-2020-001446. Epub 2020 Jul 9. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2020. PMID: 32646864
  • [The first Mexican consensus of endometrial cancer. Grupo de Investigación en Cáncer de Ovario y Tumores Ginecológicos de México].
    Ruvalcaba-Limón E, Cantú-de-León D, León-Rodríguez E, Cortés-Esteban P, Serrano-Olvera A, Morales-Vásquez F, Sosa-Sánchez R, Poveda-Velasco A, Crismatt-Zapata A, Santillán-Gómez A, Aguilar-Jiménez C, Alanís-López P, Alfaro-Ramírez P, Alvarez-Avitia MA, Aranda-Flores CE, Arias-Ceballos JH, Arrieta-Rodríguez O, Barragán-Curiel E, Botello-Hernández D, Brom-Valladares R, Cabrera-Galeana PA, Cantón-Romero JC, Capdeville-García D, Cárdenas-Sánchez J, Castorena-Roji G, Cepeda-López FR, Cervantes-Sánchez G, Cetina-Pérez Lde C, Coronel-Martínez JA, Cortés-Cárdenas SA, Cruz-López JC, de la Garza-Salazar JG, Díaz-Romero C, Dueñas-González A, Valle-Solís AE, Escudero-de los Ríos P, Flores-Alvarez E, García-Matus R, Gerson-Cwilich R, González-Enciso A, González-de-León C, Guevara-Torres AG, Herbert-Núñez GS, Hernández-Hernández C, Hernández-Hernández DM, Isla-Ortiz D, Jesús-Sandoval R, Jiménez-Cervantes C, Kuri-Exsome R, López-Obispo JL, Maffuz-Aziz A, Martínez-Barrera LM, Medina-Castro JM, Montalvo-Esquivel G, Mora-Aguilar VH, Morales-Palomares MA, Morán-Mendoza A, Morgan-Villela G, Mota-García A, Muñoz-González DE, Murillo-Cruz DA, Novoa-Vargas A, Ochoa-Carrillo FJ, Oñate-Ocaña LF, Ortega-Ro… See abstract for full author list ➔ Ruvalcaba-Limón E, et al. Rev Invest Clin. 2010 Nov-Dec;62(6):583, 585-605. Rev Invest Clin. 2010. PMID: 21416918 Spanish.
  • Carcinoma of the endometrium.
    Southcott BM. Southcott BM. Drugs. 2001;61(10):1395-405. doi: 10.2165/00003495-200161100-00003. Drugs. 2001. PMID: 11558829 Review.

Cited by

References

    1. Mbatani N, Olawaiye AB, Prat J. Uterine sarcomas. Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2018;143(suppl 2):51‐58. - PubMed
    1. WHO Classification of Tumours Editorial Board . Female Genital Tumours. WHO Classification of Tumours. 5th ed. IARC; 2020.
    1. Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network , Kandoth C, Schultz N, Cherniack AD et al. Integrated genomic characterization of endometrial carcinoma. Nature. 2013;497(7447):67–73. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Piulats JM, Guerra E, Gil‐Martín M, et al. Molecular approaches for classifying endometrial carcinoma. Gynecol Oncol. 2017;145:200‐207. - PubMed
    1. Stelloo E, Nout RA, Osse EM, et al. Improved risk assessment by integrating molecular and clinicopathological factors in early‐stage endometrial cancer‐combined analysis of the PORTEC cohorts. Clin Cancer Res. 2016;22:4215‐4224. - PubMed