Can chemotherapy for endometrial cancer prolong life? Analysis of the causes of endometrial cancer

What should women do if they have endometrial cancer? This is probably a question that everyone is concerned about. So today, our editor will briefly introduce to you the methods of treating endometrial cancer. The first choice for treating endometrial cancer is surgery. Faced with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, many endometrial cancer patients are confused about which method will be most beneficial to them? How to combine these treatments to maximize the chance of recovery?

In principle, as long as the patient's physical condition can tolerate it, he or she should receive surgical treatment as soon as possible, unless the patient has serious medical complications and cannot tolerate surgery; or the disease has reached an advanced stage and surgical resection is difficult to perform.

First, surgery can remove the cancerous uterus and other lesions that may have metastasized, including the closely adjacent ovaries, fallopian tubes, and surrounding lymph nodes. Through surgery, the tumor can be directly eradicated to achieve the purpose of cure, or the tumor volume can be reduced to benefit the patient's prognosis. Second, surgery can correctly diagnose and stage the disease. Although most patients with endometrial cancer have undergone segmented curettage, the error rate of pathological type and degree of differentiation between curettage specimens and hysterectomy specimens is as high as 20%, and these indicators are directly related to further treatment and prognosis after surgery. Therefore, accurate clinical staging is the guarantee for choosing appropriate treatment, otherwise it is very likely to lead to excessive or insufficient treatment.

Endometrial cancer is sensitive to radiotherapy, so radiotherapy is the first choice of adjuvant treatment after surgery. Controlled studies have shown that radiotherapy can reduce the local recurrence rate of patients with moderately differentiated endometrial cancer and increase the 5-year survival rate of patients with highly differentiated endometrial cancer. If the patient is in poor physical condition, cannot tolerate surgery, or is unwilling to undergo surgery, then radiotherapy is the first choice.

Can postoperative chemotherapy prolong life in advanced endometrial cancer?

According to a report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, women with advanced endometrial cancer who received a combination of doxorubicin and cisplatin after surgery had a significantly lower recurrence rate and a longer life expectancy.

Marcus E. Randall, MD, of the Multicenter Gynecologic Oncology Group at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, and colleagues compared recurrence and overall survival in 194 women who received 5 months of chemotherapy with doxorubicin and cisplatin with 202 women who received 1.5 months of whole-abdomen radiation therapy. The women had stage III or IV endometrial cancer and the largest tumor remaining after surgery was 2 cm. After 5 years, 55% of the chemotherapy group was predicted to be alive, compared with 42% of the radiation group. Fifty percent of the chemotherapy group was predicted to be disease-free, compared with 38% of the radiation group. The hazard ratios for death and disease progression were 0.68 and 0.71, respectively, favoring the chemotherapy group over the radiation group.

However, treatment-related side effects were more common and more severe in the chemotherapy group, particularly those affecting the blood, heart, and nervous systems, and chemotherapy caused eight deaths (4%), compared with five deaths (2%) with radiotherapy. Therefore, researchers are currently studying whether carboplatin and paclitaxel have the same efficacy as doxorubicin and cisplatin but with fewer side effects.

Why do women get endometrial cancer?

Endometrial cancer is a malignant tumor that can easily endanger a woman's life. So, why do women get endometrial cancer? In fact, there are many reasons why women get endometrial cancer. The following editor will introduce to you why women get endometrial cancer?

Causes of endometrial cancer 1. Hypertension

Many patients with endometrial cancer are accompanied by hypertension.

The coexistence of obesity, diabetes and hypertension in patients with endometrial cancer is called the "endometrial triad" or "endometrial cancer syndrome". The three may be related to a high-fat diet, which is directly related to endometrial cancer.

Causes of endometrial cancer 2. Early menarche and late menopause

The incidence of endometrial cancer is 60% higher in women who have their first menstruation before the age of 12 than in those who have it after the age of 12. The absolute age of onset of endometrial cancer is 6 years later than that of normal women.

Cause 3 of endometrial cancer: exogenous estrogen

Women who take estrogen have a high risk of developing endometrial cancer. The risk is related to the dose, duration of use, whether progestogen is used in combination, whether the drug is stopped during the period, and patient characteristics. The risk decreases after stopping the drug, but the risk continues for a few years. At present, there is sufficient evidence for the causal relationship between estrogen and endometrial cancer.

Cause 4 of endometrial cancer: obesity

Excessive fat will increase the storage of estrogen and increase the conversion of androstenedione to estrone in plasma. This increase in free and active estrone may be a carcinogenic or cancer-promoting factor for endometrial cancer.

Causes of endometrial cancer 5. Menstrual disorders

The incidence of menstrual disorders and heavy menstruation in patients with endometrial cancer is three times higher than that in normal women.

To sum up, the above content talks about why women have endometrial cancer. It can help women better understand the causes of endometrial cancer. Women should stay away from these adverse factors to better prevent endometrial cancer. In addition, women should maintain local hygiene and avoid eating spicy and irritating foods.