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Query: UMLS:C0476089 (endometrial cancer)
 11,379 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

From 1965 through 1980, 193 patients with histologically proven endometrial carcinoma, FIGO-AJC Stage I-III, received preoperative radiation therapy. One hundred forty-two patients had Stage I (G1:41, G2:68, G3:33), 47 Stage II, and 4 Stage III endometrial carcinoma. All patients were treated with preoperative radiation therapy (intracavitary application, external pelvic irradiation or both) followed by total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (TAH-BSO). They were followed from 3 to 18 years (median, 6.2 years) after the completion of the treatment and none was lost to follow-up. Overall 5-year actuarial disease-free survival was 85%. The interval between the completion of radiation therapy and TAH-BSO ranged from 3 days to 123 days (median, 40 days). Five-year and 10-year survivals were 95% among 65 patients who did not have residual cancer in the hysterectomy specimen compared to 75% and 70%, respectively, among 128 patients who had positive hysterectomy specimens (P less than 0.01). The presence or absence of residual carcinoma in the surgical specimen after preoperative irradiation was the only important prognostic variable. The most significant factors associated with residual cancer cells were the interval from the completion of radiation therapy to TAH-BSO (P less than 0.001) and the method of preoperative irradiation in patients with Stage I Grade 3 and Stage II external pelvic irradiation was less frequently associated with residual cancer than intracavitary applications (P = 0.043). With one exception, all patients who failed had residual cancer in the hysterectomy specimen. The depth of myometrial invasion of residual tumor in the hysterectomy specimen after preoperative irradiation was correlated to the frequency of failures (P = less than 0.05). Failures were distributed equally among the pelvis, para-aortic nodes, and distant sites. Complications of treatment were infrequent (7%) and were mild; no fatal complications were seen. The data suggest an optimal interval for hysterectomy is 29 to 42 days after completion of radiation therapy in unfavorable carcinomas of the endometrium. These patients also benefit from external pelvic irradiation with or without intracavitary applications as this therapy provides the highest probability there will be no residual cancer cells in the surgical specimen.
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PMID:Prognostic significance of interval from preoperative irradiation to hysterectomy for endometrial carcinoma. 371 54

Endometrial carcinoma is a disease of menopausal and postmenopausal women with 74% of cases occurring between the ages of 50-69 years and 16% at age 70 or older. Recent reports suggest an increase in the frequency of the lesion and occurrence at an earlier age. Any single test by most of the conventional methods will miss about 50% of the carcinomas of the endometrium. To obtain greater accuracy in diagnosis, it is necessary to obtain large numbers of well-preserved cells directly from the endometrial cavity. Cervical patency should be proved in the examination of all postmenopausal women. The device described uses a silicone rubber tube 33.5 cm in length and 2 mm in diameter. A wire stylet for stiffness and a rounded plastic tip facilitate passage through the sometimes stenotic cervical canal. Near the tip many small holes permit aspiration of endocervical secretions. A plastic collar around the tubing facilitates the aspiration. An aspirating syringe adapter is needed. After conventional Pap smears are obtained the aspirating tube is passed into the uterus. Little or no pain is produced. Negative pressure for aspiration is obtained with a syringe. The contents of the aspirating tube are expelled onto a slide. The slide preparations are immediately fixed in a bottle of absolute alcohol containing 3% glacial acetic acid. The acid lyses most red blood cells. This method was used in 983 outpatients and 500 hospitalized patients. There were only 5 patients in whom the endometrial aspirator could not be passed, due to previous cervical trauma in 3 and vaginal atrophy and distortion in 2. No uterine perforations or infections occurred. There were no positive tests for carcinoma in the 983 outpatients. Endometrial carcinoma was diagnosed histologically in 32 of the 500 hospitalized patients. IN 27 of these 32 cases the endometrial carcinoma had been detected by cytological examination of the aspirate. There were 5 carcinoma cases in which the aspirate did not show malignant cells. In 3 of them external radiation had been given prior to surgery and some residual cancer was found in the hysterectomy specimen. Excessive blood on the slide had prevented adequate cytologic evaluation in the other 2. In 6 cases adenocarcinoma was suspected from the examination of the aspirate but not found histologically. 4 of them showed abnormal endometrial curettings. Polyps were found in 3 and hyperplasia in 1. 8 cases of in situ or early invasive carcinoma of the cervix were discovered. Results show that the method is safe and accurate to an 84.4% degree for detecting endometrial adenocarcinoma. In an accompanying discussion, better fixation of material on slides was suggested. Annual mass population screening by this method was not considered practical. Others have depended on a jet wash of the endometrium and on endometrial biopsies to obtain material for histologic study, but many patients do not like having the needed dilatation and fail to return for reexaminations.
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PMID:An acceptable yearly screening device for endometrial carcinoma. 459 64

Approximately 18,000 women are diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer in the UK each year. Predisposing risk factors for some of these gynaecological cancers include an early menarche/late menopause and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Furthermore, treatment of gynaecological malignancies often induces an iatrogenic menopause, which may be more severe than a natural onset. HRT is an extremely effective treatment that may dramatically improve physical and psychological symptoms and ultimately quality of life in patients with cancer. However, the safety of using HRT in patients with gynaecological cancer is a controversial issue and not entirely clear. The main concern is the theoretical risk of the stimulation of residual cancer cells by estrogen replacement. The review of the evidence in this article found that for most gynaecological cancers this hypothesis was not proven. No study to date has found HRT to have a detrimental effect on survival in patients with early stage endometrial cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer, cervical cancer and vulval tumours. HRT is only an absolute contraindication in low-grade endometrial stromal sarcomas and is best avoided in granulosa cell ovarian tumours. Therefore, HRT should not be withheld in the majority of patients with gynaecological cancer. If quality of life is being adversely affected by symptoms of the menopause, then patients with cancer should be counselled regarding the known risks and benefits of HRT to enable them to make an informed decision on their treatment.
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PMID:Menopause, hormone replacement and gynaecological cancers. 2072 1

The incidence of endometrial cancers diagnosed on biopsy that have no residual cancer identified at hysterectomy is not well studied. The aim of our study was to determine the incidence and long-term follow-up of this "vanishing cancer" phenomenon. All slides from the initial biopsy/curettage and hysterectomy specimens were reviewed and the diagnosis confirmed by a gynecologic pathologist. The entire endometrium was serially sectioned and submitted for histologic examination. Clinical and pathologic variables were analyzed, including patient demographics, tumor histologic type and grade, stage, biopsy method, adjuvant therapy, surgical procedure, recurrence, and disease-specific survival. We identified 23 biopsy-proven cases of endometrial cancer with no residual disease on hysterectomy specimen. Of the 23 patients, 15 (65.2%) were diagnosed as endometrioid, 6 (26%) serous, 1 clear cell (4.3%), and 1 (4.3%) serous intraepithelial carcinoma. Seventeen underwent dilatation and curettage, and 6 had endometrial biopsy as the primary procedure. The median follow-up was 8.8 years (range, 1.2 to 17 y). Only 2 cases with serous carcinoma underwent adjuvant chemotherapy, and none received radiation therapy. Only 1 patient died of disease after 27 months and was diagnosed as FIGO grade II endometrioid carcinoma on dilatation and curettage. The inability to identify cancer in a hysterectomy specimen for biopsy-confirmed carcinoma does not indicate technical failure. Although there is no specific standard treatment for patients with "vanishing endometrial cancer," the prognosis is excellent; however, close follow-up is suggested.
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PMID:Vanishing endometrial cancer in hysterectomy specimens: a myth or a fact. 2551 62