[Fertility-sparing treatment for gynecologic cancer]

Japanese women bear children at a later age. Thus, fertility-sparing treatment for gynecologic cancer is very important. Per the Japanese treatment guidelines for cervical cancer, the uterus can be preserved by performing cervical conization alone in patients with stage I A1 disease. Radical trachelectomy (RT) is not yet recommended for patients with stage I A2 or I B 1 disease in Japan. Further, RT will not be popular in Japan because cervical cancer can be prevented with HPV vaccine. The efficacy of fertility-sparing treatment with a high-dose of medroxyprogesterone acetate for grade 1 endometrial cancer was proven in a Japan clinical oncology group (JCOG) phase II study. Japanese multi-institutional retrospective investigation data confirm that fertility-sparing surgery is safe for patients with stage I A disease with non-clear cell histology grade 1 or 2. These data suggest that patients with stage I A disease with clear cell histology and those with stage I C disease with non-clear cell histology grade 1 or 2 can be candidates for fertility sparing surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy.