Gynecologic Cancer

Endometrial Cancers

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Treatment

There are a number of ways to treat endometrial cancer, including:

• Surgery -- Most women with uterine cancer have surgery to remove the uterus through an incision in the abdomen -- this procedure is called a hysterectomy. If the doctor also removes the fallopian tubes and the ovaries, this procedure is called a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.

• Hormonal Therapy -- If the cancer has spread to other parts of your body, synthetic progestin, a form of the hormone progesterone, may stop it from growing. The progestin used in treating endometrial cancer is in different doses than the progestin used in hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women. Some different medications may be used as well. Treatment with progestin may be an option for women with early endometrial cancer who want to have children and therefore do not want to have a hysterectomy. However, this approach is new and does not guarantee that the cancer will not return.

• Radiation Therapy -- Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to damage cancer cells and stop them from growing. It is a localized treatment, which means that it works to attack cancer cells in one area. The radiation may come from a large machine, called external radiation, or from radioactive materials placed directly into the uterus, called implant radiation. Some patients receive both types of radiation therapy.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated July 31, 2008