Endometrium cancer is cancer that forms in the lining of the uterus, which is called endometrium. It is the fourth most common cancer for women in the USA and affects 1 out of 50 women.
The good news? Doctors have many instruments for the treatment of endometrium cancer and work well, especially if cancer is caught early. More than 80% of women who were diagnosed with endometrium cancer are alive five years later – and this number jumps to 95% if the cancer has not spread outside the uterus.
Understanding the treatment options for endometrium cancer – including surgery, radiation and medication – can help you prepare for the upcoming path. We spoke to Nita Lee, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Chicago, about how endometrium cancer is treated.
What types of operations are used for endometrium cancer?
Nowadays, the most common operation is a minimally invasive (made by tiny cuts) laparoscopic or robotic operation. We use this type of operation for most endometrium cancer patients to remove the uterus and fallopian tubes and collect information about the lymph nodes.
If patients have a more advanced disease that has spread to the lymph nodes or ovaries or if the uterus is too great to carry out a minimally invasive operation, you may have to carry out open abdominal surgery.
What role does radiation therapy play in the treatment of endometrium cancer?
Radiation therapy is most often used as additional treatment after the operation. Care after the operation, which is referred to as postoperative care, can sometimes include radiation therapy based on certain findings at the time of the operation.
For example, if a person has certain risk factors in the uterus, your health service provider (HCP) can recommend having vaginal radiation or possibly more pelvic radiation. Or if you have certain factors, such as B. cancer in the cervix after it has been surgically eliminated, you may need a radiation of the pelvic area.
Some patients with advanced diseases in which the lymph nodes are involved receive in addition to chemotherapy. Occasionally, patients who do not use surgery and do not want fertility treatment only receive radiation, but that’s quite rare. It really varies depending on the patient.
Which systemic (total body) treatments are used for endometrium cancer?
- chemotherapy is the backbone of treatment for patients who were diagnosed in an advanced stage. For example, if we find that a person has 3 or 4 cancer during the operation, you often get chemotherapy as part of your treatment plan after the operation.
People with disease in stage 1, who have certain cell types with high risk, also receive chemotherapy after the operation.
- Immunotherapy is a newer form of therapy. It resembles chemotherapy in that the drug is administered by an IV, but immunotherapy medication in the body works differently.
While chemotherapy medication typically affect the cancer cells themselves, immunotherapy is intended to help your body’s immune system attack cancer.
One of the possibilities, such as cancer cells reach their immune system, is to hide or make certain proteins behind them so that their body does not recognize the cancer cells as bad. Immunotherapy helps to detect the cancer.
Immunotherapy is best suited for certain categories of endometrium cancer, which means that it works better for some people than for others. It was a player in recurrent patients with endometrium cancer and diagnosis in an advanced stage.
- Hormone therapy is used for endometrium cancer that are 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 cancer.
- Targeted therapy destroys cancer cells without damage to other cells. The probably best -known goal is her2, a protein that we often hear about when we talk about breast cancer. Recent studies show that a connection between endometrium cancer and HER2 and targeted therapy can help.
Are there fertile treatments for endometrium cancer?
Yes. Hormone therapy is the most common treatment of patients who are concerned about fertility. We usually tend to limit the fertile treatment to patients with disease in stage 1 and patients with endometrium cancer patients in stage 1 (compared to patients with cell types with high risk).
Which factors are taken into account in the case of treatment decisions?
Many of our treatment decisions are based on the patient’s molecular profile, which examines the tumor cells and the biomarkers and reports exactly what type of endometrium cancer they have and whether the tumor responds to certain treatments. We also consider all other health problems and your goals for treatment and always want to reconcile the quality of life.
This educational resource was created with the support of Karyopharm.
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