Corpus Uteri Carcinoma

In many countries, carcinoma of the corpus uteri (endometrial carcinoma) has now surpassed cervical carcinoma as the most common form of malignancy affecting the female genital tract. This has occurred as the result of two factors. Firstly, the effective population-based cervical carcinoma screening programs have effectively identified the preclinical phases of this disease with a subsequent reduction in its incidence and mortality rates. Second, the increased life-expectancy in many countries today has, in turn, led to an increased number of patients being diagnosed with endometrial carcinoma, which is predominantly a disease of post-menopausal women. Endometrial carcinoma most often presents as postmenopausal bleeding, which results in women presenting promptly for investigation of this complaint. The majority of endometrial carcinomas are diagnosed as stage I lesions [37]. Nonetheless, this condition has the potential to behave in an aggressive fashion, resulting in recurrence and ultimately death. The identification of prognostic factors has been the primary focus of the research on this condition in the past 20 years. Prognostic factors in stage I and II and in stage III and IV disease are shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.