Current and Emerging Prognostic Biomarkers in Endometrial Cancer

Abstract

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynaecological malignancy in high income countries and its incidence is rising. Whilst most women with endometrial cancer are diagnosed with highly curable disease and have good outcomes, a significant minority present with adverse clinico-pathological characteristics that herald a poor prognosis. Prognostic biomarkers that reliably select those at greatest risk of disease recurrence and death can guide management strategies to ensure that patients receive appropriate evidence-based and personalised care. The Cancer Genome Atlas substantially advanced our understanding of the molecular diversity of endometrial cancer and informed the development of simplified, pragmatic and cost-effective classifiers with prognostic implications and potential for clinical translation. Several blood-based biomarkers including proteins, metabolites, circulating tumour cells, circulating tumour DNA and inflammatory parameters have also shown promise for endometrial cancer risk assessment. This review provides an update on the established and emerging prognostic biomarkers in endometrial cancer.

Impact of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus on Endometrial Cancer Survival: A Prospective Database Analysis

“…Deaths from endometrial cancer are also rising, albeit at a slower rate, despite improvements in overall survival ( 3 , 4 ). Although most women with endometrial cancer are diagnosed with highly curable disease and have a favourable prognosis, a significant minority present with adverse clinico-pathological characteristics that portend poor outcomes ( 5 ).…”

Urine CA125 and HE4 for the Triage of Symptomatic Women with Suspected Endometrial Cancer

“…The early detection of endometrial cancer improves outcomes and enables conservative management options to be offered to women who wish to retain their uterus for fertility-sparing reasons [ 6 ]. Previous studies have demonstrated that elevated serum CA125 and HE4 may be indicative of aggressive endometrial cancer phenotypes [ 40 ]. Serum CA125 has been reported to predict the presence of lymphovascular space invasion, deep myometrial invasion, and metastatic disease [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”

Development and evaluation of polygenic risk scores for prediction of endometrial cancer risk in European women

“…Nonendometrioid endometrial cancers are associated with a less favorable prognosis and higher rate of mortality than their endometrioid counterparts. 8,29 The small number of nonendometrioid tumors as well as lack of histopathological data available in the data sets so far has limited the discovery of genome-wide significant variants being identified for this subtype. Despite this, in our Manchester study, we showed that the PRS performs equally well in both subtypes, indicating its potential utility in identifying the group of patients with nonendometrioid tumors who are at a much higher risk of adverse outcomes.…”