Current surgical management of endometrial cancer

It is reasonable to perform complete lymphadenectomy in patients at significant risk of lymph node metastases, and use the results to guide adjuvant treatment decisions.(24,25) Criteria for staging based on intraoperative pathology should be determined in consultation with the pathologist, preferably with an institution-specific quality-assurance review.(34) Patients with more aggressive histologies should undergo a staging procedure including an omental biopsy whenever possible, with the understanding that most require systemic adjuvant therapy. Minimally invasive surgery is associated with shorter recovery and fewer postoperative complications than open endometrial cancer staging,(4,5,45) with preliminary data showing similar oncologic outcomes (Walker and colleagues, late breaking abstract SGO 2010 Annual Meeting). Whenever feasible, patients should be offered minimally invasive surgery for endometrial cancer staging. Retrospective data support an attempt at complete cytoreduction in patients with advanced endometrial cancer and a good performance status.(8-12) The decision to perform aggressive cytoreductive surgery should be individualized, taking into account the patient's comorbidities, her performance status, her symptoms, and the risks associated with more aggressive surgical procedures.