The gold standard treatment for endometrial cancer is surgery. Less invasive surgical procedures (e.g. vaginal surgery), provide equivalent cure rates and are preferred interventions for elderly women or women with significant co-morbidities with endometrial cancer stage I. A commonly referred limitation of vaginal surgery in endometrial carcinoma is the difficulty of carrying out lymphadenectomy when necessary. However, women elected for vaginal procedures are those who should not need lymphadenectomy because they are at low risk for lymph-node metastasis, and can therefore be treated by less invasive surgery with similar oncology outcomes to those women treated with abdominal surgery. Vaginal hysterectomy, therefore, has a definite place in the therapeutic armamentarium of the gynaecological oncologist. Although it is not recommend routinely or indiscriminately, its use adds flexibility to the management of selected women with stage I endometrial carcinoma, without affecting their oncologic outcomes.
Introduction
In 1988, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) formally established surgical staging for endometrial adenocarcinoma, including peritoneal cytology and lymph-node sampling of the pelvic and periaortic lymph nodes. In 2009, FIGO published an update of the staging classification of carcinoma of the endometrium ( Table 1 ).
Stage I | Tumour confined to the corpus uteri |
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IA | No or less than half myometrial invasion |
IB | Invasion equal to or more than half of the myometrium |
Stage II | Tumour invades cervical stroma, but does not extend beyond the uterus |
Stage III | Local, regional spread of the tumour, or both |
IIIA | Tumour invades the serosa of the corpus uteri, adnexae, or both |
IIIB | Vaginal, parametrial involvement, or both |
IIIC | Metastases to pelvic, para-aortic lymph nodes, or both |
IIIC1 | Positive pelvic nodes |
IIIC2 | Positive para-aortic lymph nodes with or without positive pelvic lymph nodes |
Stage IV | Tumour invades bladder, bowel mucosa, distant metastases, or all |
IVA | Tumour invasion of bladder, bowel mucosa, or both |
IVB | Distant metastases, including intra-abdominal metastases, inguinal lymph nodes, or both |