Fertility Sparing Treatments in Endometrial Cancer Patients: The Potential Role of the New Molecular Classification

Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Nov 12;22(22):12248. doi: 10.3390/ijms222212248.

Abstract

Endometrial cancer is the most frequent gynecological malignancy, and, although epidemiologically it mainly affects advanced age women, it can also affect young patients who want children and who have not yet completed their procreative project. Fertility sparing treatments are the subject of many studies and research in continuous evolution, and represent a light of hope for young cancer patients who find themselves having to face an oncological path before fulfilling their desire for motherhood. The advances in molecular biology and the more precise clinical and prognostic classification of endometrial cancer based on the 2013 The Cancer Genome Atlas classification allow for the selection of patients who can be submitted to fertility sparing treatments with increasing oncological safety. It would also be possible to predict the response to hormonal treatment by investigating the state of the genes of the mismatch repair.

Keywords: endometrial cancer; fertility sparing; molecular biology; obstetric outcomes; pregnancy.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / classification
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / genetics
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Female
  • Fertility / physiology
  • Fertility Preservation / methods*
  • Humans
  • Hysteroscopy / methods*
  • Organ Sparing Treatments / methods*
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care / methods
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care / statistics & numerical data
  • Progestins / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Progestins