Fertility-preserving treatment of endometrial cancer and endometrial atypical hyperplasia for patients with metabolic abnormalities: Challenge or opportunity?

Background: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a regimen that combines anti-estrogen therapy with treatments targeting glucose, lipid, and calcium metabolism in patients diagnosed with early-stage endometrial cancer (EC) and endometrial atypical hyperplasia (EAH).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with EC and EAH who were treated at Peking University People's Hospital between January 2018 and November 2023. The study examined the clinical profiles of the patients and assessed the efficacy of different treatment strategies.

Results: A total of 285 patients were enrolled in the study, with 149 receiving anti-estrogen monotherapy and 136 receiving a combination therapy. The combination therapy group exhibited a higher incidence of elevated body mass index, insulin resistance, diabetes and hypertension (P <0.05). Pathology of EAH and metformin regimen were protective factors for shorter complete response time (P <0.05). Subsequent stratified analysis revealed that combination therapy with metformin significantly benefited patients with insulin resistance (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.888, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.313-2.713) and diabetes mellitus (HR = 2.749, 95% CI: 1.046-7.299).

Conclusions: Fertility-sparing treatments for patients with metabolic risk factors may have poor efficacy. However, the integration of anti-estrogen therapy with the metabolic-targeting interventions, like metformin, appears to improve the outcomes of fertility-preserving strategies in this patient population.