Treatment

The choice of treatment depends on...

Cancer staging: how far the cancer has progressed.

The patient: age, overall health, and plans for childbearing.

The three main options are surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Sometimes a combination of these methods is used.

Surgery

Endometrial cancers are removed with a hysterectomy. Surgery to remove only the uterus is called a simple hysterectomy.

When the cancer has spread beyond the uterus to the cervix or to nearby tissue, a radical hysterectomy is performed to remove the uterus, as well as any affected area of the vagina, and other tissues. In most instances, the fallopian tubes and ovaries also will be removed in a procedure called a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Lymph nodes from the pelvic and lower aortic areas often are removed as well to check for the cancer's spread.

Surgery alone can cure cancer of the uterus for most women. However, additional treatments are necessary in some cases when there is increased risk of recurrence or metastases.

Radiation therapy

This is the use of high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. At times, radiation therapy is used before surgery to shrink the tumor before removing it. At other times, it is used after surgery to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

Radiation therapy can be delivered both internally and externally to treat cancer of the uterus. Internal delivery is called brachytherapy, which uses a temporary implant. During the few days the implant is in place, the patient is hospitalized and visitors are restricted.

External beam radiation is usually done on an outpatient basis, five days a week, for four to five weeks.

Hormones and chemotherapy

If endometrial cancer has spread outside the uterus to other organs, hormonal therapy and chemotherapy are options to provide systemic treatment. There is no complete cure for advanced endometrial cancer, although clinical trials for combinations of anti-estrogen drugs and chemotherapy are under way.

More on Uterine Cancer

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This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.