Endometrial Cancer
Endometrial cancer
Endometrial cancer develops from the glanular tissue that grows inside the cavity of the uterus. Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer among American women, and is the 4th most common cancer among American women. Fortunately, endometrial cancer is often diagnosed at an early stage when it is either curable or highly treatable.
The most common symptoms of endometrial cancer are postmenopausal bleeding, abnormal bleeding among premenopausal age women at relatively high risk due to obesity and/or chronic anovulation, and persistent abnormal discharge among postmenopausal women.
There are two types of endometrial cancer: type I (low-grade endometrioid) versus type II (high-grade endometrioid, uterine serous carcinoma, carcinosarcoma, clear cell carcioma, etc.). Type I endometrial cancers are driven to develop by excess estrogen and relatively lower risk for metastasis and recurrence. Types II endometrial cancers are higher risk of advanced stage at diagnosis due to earlier metastasis as well as future recurrence after initial successful treatment.
Endometrial cancer is usually diagnosed with biospy of the lining/tissue inside the uterus, such as office endometrial biopsy or D&C procedure in the operating room.
Most women with endometrial cancer are initially treated with surgery to remove all visible cancer and check pelvic organs for possible metastatis. This surgical staging procedure involves robot-assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and evaluation of possible lymph node metastasis, such as with use of a sentinel lymph node biopsy protocol.
Minimally-invasive surgery such as robotic surgery using small incisions is the standard of care and has been the standard of care for endometrial cancer since about year 2000. Rarely (< 1% of cases) does a woman need an open sugery with a large incision when the surgery is performed by a modern Gynecologic Oncologist with expertise in minimally-invasive surgery. Most women are also able to safely have outpatient surgery for endometrial cancer, going home after their surgery rather than staying in the hospital.
Some women with endometrial cancer have type II (high-grade) endometrial cancer, advanced stage (II-IV) at diagnosis, and/or relatively higher risk factors for recurrence among women with stage I (uterine-confined) disease. These women often need radiation and/or chemotherapy to give them the best chance of cure for their endometrial cancer. In our practice, those women receive individualized team-based evaluation and management by Dr. Seagle and specialists (in their local community or closest cancer center) in Radiation Oncology and/or Medical Oncology as needed.
Specialized Care
At Southland Uro+Gynecology, LLC, Dr. Seagle routinely evaluates and manages women with newly-diagnosed or recurrent endometrial cancer. Greater than 99% of staging procedures are performed robotically as outpatient surgery. Care is individualized based on the needs of each woman and, when needed, care is coordinated with each woman's local or preferred cancer center specialists in Radiation and/or Medical Oncology. When rarely needed or in the best interest of the patient, procedures are coordinated with top-notch local Surgical Oncologists or patients are referred to academic centers for Gynecologic Oncology (Medical College of Georiga or Emory) depending on their trial eligibility and/or unusual circumstances. Most women with gynecologic cancer can receive outstanding care for their endometrial cancer at home or closer to home in South Georgia, including access to current clinical molecular testing and individualized use of newer treatments (example: immunothearpy).
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