To detect endometrial cancer, a technique that directly samples the endometrial tissue is mandatory. In some patients, an antecedent history of complex hyperplasia with atypia can be demonstrated. Because of this increase, patients on tamoxifen should have follow-up pelvic examinations and should be examined if there is any abnormal uterine bleeding. The pattern of spread is partially dependent on the degree of cellular differentiation. In patients with poorly differentiated tumors, myometrial invasion occurs much more frequently.
Metastatic spread occurs in a characteristic pattern.
Spread to the pelvic and para-aortic nodes is common. Distant metastases can occur and most commonly involve the lungs, inguinal and supraclavicular nodes, liver, bones, brain, and vagina. Three prognostic groupings of clinical stage I disease become possible by careful operative staging. This information has been brought to you by Med Help International , licenced by the National Cancer Institute as a distributor of CancerNet.