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Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Prevention for Endometrial Cancer

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Management of Endometrial Cancer

Abstract

Globally, endometrial cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women. The incidence of endometrial cancer is highest in North America and Western Europe. Endometrial cancer has in general a favorable prognosis. Endometrial cancer is a disease linked to a high standard of living and, thus, the majority of cases are diagnosed in developed countries, as opposed to cervical cancer. Endometrial cancer is predominantly a disease of postmenopausal women.

Most endometrial cancers are sporadic, with Lynch syndrome being the most important familial form. Endometrial carcinoma is usually divided into two types: The prevalent (80–90%) Type I (endometrioid) cancer is estrogen-dependent, slowly growing, metastasizes late, and has in general a good prognosis. Type II cancer is estrogen-independent, grows faster, metastasizes early, and has markedly poorer prognosis than Type I. Serous and clear cell carcinomas belong to Type II cancers, as well as approximately 25% of the high grade endometrioid carcinomas.

Type I endometrial carcinomas have known risk factors, while there are no known risk factors for Type II cancer. The risk factors (obesity, metabolic syndrome, Type II diabetes, anovulation, etc.) are mostly related to unopposed estrogen.

Prevention of endometrial cancer involves measures aimed at reducing the effect of risk factors like weight control and use of progestins.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Johanna Mäenpää

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

    Johanna Mäenpää

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  1. Johanna Mäenpää
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Correspondence to Johanna Mäenpää .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Rigshospitalet, København Ø, Denmark

    Mansoor R. Mirza

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Mäenpää, J. (2020). Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Prevention for Endometrial Cancer. In: Mirza, M. (eds) Management of Endometrial Cancer. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64513-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64513-1_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64512-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-64513-1

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