Endometrial carcinoma (EC) – colloquially called cancer of the uterus or cancer of the body of the uterus – (synonyms: malignant neoplasm – endometrial stroma; malignant neoplasm of the endometrium; carcinoma corporis uteri; corpus carcinoma; endometrial stromal sarcoma; corpus carcinoma; endometrial cancer; ICD-10-GM C54. 1: Endometrium) it is a malignant (malignant) neoplasm (tumor) originating from the endometrium (endometrium).
In Germany, endometrial carcinoma is the fourth most common tumor disease (cancer) in women and the most common carcinoma disease of the female genital organs.
Frequency peak: The maximum incidence of endometrial carcinoma is between the ages of 65 and 85. In approximately 20% of women, endometrial carcinoma occurs premenopausally (approximately ten to fifteen years before menopause) and approximately five percent of women are under 45 years of age.The median age of onset is 69 years, with approximately 80% of endometrial carcinomas being diagnosed at FIGO stage I.
Prevalence (disease incidence) is highest in North America and Western Europe.
The incidence (frequency of new cases) is 9.9-16.6 cases per 100,000 population per year. Worldwide, there are 142,000 new cases per year.
Course and prognosis: As a rule, treatment of endometrial carcinoma involves hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) with bilateral adnexal extirpation (removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries). If there is a higher risk of recurrence, pelvic and para-aortic lymphonodectomy (lymphadenectomy; removal of lymph nodes) and, if necessary, adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy (radiation therapy) are also performed.Endometrial carcinoma can be recurrent (recurring) (in 25% of cases). 70-90% of recurrences occur in the first two years after primary therapy.
The lethality (mortality relative to the total number of people with the disease) of the most common type of endometrial carcinoma, endometrioid adenocarcinoma, is 6%. For the other types, lethality varies from 21 to 51%. The mortality rate (number of deaths in a given period, based on the number of the population in question) is 5.8 per 100,00 population per year.
The 5-year survival rate (all stages) is approximately 75-83%: for stage I or II, it is 74-91%; for stage III, 57-66%; and for stage IV, 20-26%.