How is the current clinical management of endometrial cancer worldwide? An international survey by the North-Eastern German Society of Gynaecological Oncology (NOGGO).

Abstract

5087 Background: Indication, technique and extent of lymph-node-dissection (LND) in endometrial cancer (EC) remains controversial and is strongly debated in cancer community. We conducted a national- and at a second step an international-survey evaluating the current status-quo of the surgical and medical management of EC. Methods: A validated 15-item-questionnaire regarding surgical and adjuvant procedures of EC was sent to all major gynaecological cancer societies and study groups worldwide. The questionnaire could also be answered online. Results: In a phase-I-national trial, the questionnaire was validated on basis of 316 German institutions. On the phase-II-international survey a total of 302 questionnaires were answered from 24 countries, mainly from Japan (38.7%), Spain (8.3%), Austria (7%), United-Kingdom (6.3%), Italy (6%), USA (4.3%) and Canada (4%). The vast majority of the participating clinics were academic (62.8%), while 75.2% of them belonged to gynaecology. Only 0.7% of the clinics internationally reported never performing LND in EC. 62.3% of the clinics perform both a pelvic and paraaortic lymph node dissection. 59.1% of the participants performed a systematic lymph node dissection with the intention of both adequate staging and for therapeutic value. 15.05% of the clinics perform LND up to the common-iliac-arteries, 9.03% up to the inferior-mesenteric-artery and 70.6% up to the renal-veins. The most common risk-factors to indicate LND were: high-grading (93%), non-endometrioid-histology (90.1%), lymphovascular-invasion (55.3%), blood-vessel invasion (45.4%) and tumor-diameter >2cm (38.4%). For advanced stage III&IV disease the vast majority (60% and 80%, respectively) of the physicians indicated systemic chemotherapy alone. Conclusions: This study presents the large variety in clinical management of EC worldwide, underlining so the high need of future prospective randomised trials which will establish standard and evidence based treatment guidelines for EC- disease.