The first phase III study of its kind has found that vaginal brachytherapy—in which a radioactive cylinder is inserted into the vagina—is as effective at preventing the recurrence of higher-risk endometrial cancer as external-beam radiation therapy, has fewer side effects, and results in a better quality of life for patients (abstract LBA5503). More>>

Women with breast cancer who take adjuvant tamoxifen for 10 years have a lower risk of recurrence than their counterparts who take it for 5 years, although the difference is thus far small, according to early results of the ATLAS (Adjuvant Tamoxifen, Longer Against Shorter) trial presented at SABCS (abstract 48). More>>

SAN DIEGO -- Adjuvant chemoradiation may benefit some women with advanced endometrial cancer, researchers said here. More>>

WASHINGTON -- Black women with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer had significantly worse overall survival than white women who received the same therapy in four clinical trials. More>>

Kirby et al are correct in their statement that continued controversy surrounds the comprehensive surgical staging of all patients with clinical stage I endometrial adenocarcinoma. Such is the case because lymph node metastasis is found in only 10% of these patients. The proportion of patients found to have lymph node metastasis is even lower among those with grade 1 and 2 tumors with minimal or no invasion. A high proportion of patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma fall into this group. More>>

Early presentation of endometrial cancer permits effective management with excellent clinical outcome. The addition of hysteroscopy to dilatation and curettage (D&C) in the evaluation of postmenopausal bleeding adds little to the detection of malignancy. Imaging studies such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positronemission tomography may be of use in determining the presence of extrauterine disease in patients medically unfit for surgical staging. However, these studies... More>>

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy affecting women in the United States. In 1988, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics shifted from a clinical staging protocol to one based on surgical factors, making surgical staging the accepted treatment approach to endometrial cancers, with excellent survival compared to other gynecologic malignancies. The manuscript by Kirby et al brings to light the controversies surrounding the surgical evaluation of... More>>

CHICAGO—Adding paclitaxel (Taxol) and G-CSF support to the standard regimen of doxorubicin and cisplatin (Platinol) improved response rates and increased survival by about 3 months for patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer in a randomized controlled phase III trial conducted by the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) (ASCO abstract 807). More>>

The best clinical outcomes for patients with endometrial cancer seem to be achieved with either surgery alone or a combination of surgery and radiation therapy. Although once administered preoperatively, irradiation is now More>>

Dr. Grigsby does an excellent job of summarizing the accepted, stage-by-stage treatment recommendations as well as the controversies surrounding the treatment of endometrial carcinoma. This review is both important and timely, as we have seen the incidence of endometrial cancer increase over the past few years to the point where it is now the most common gynecologic malignancy. More>>