Revisiting the paradigm: Asymptomatic high-grade endometrial cancer diagnosis is not associated with improved outcomes

Objective

To compare the survival of women with high grade endometrial cancer between asymptomatic and women presenting bleeding symptoms.

Design

An Israel Gynecologic Oncology Group multi-center retrospective cohort study.

Methods

The study included women who underwent surgery for high-grade endometrial cancer. We compared outcomes between women presenting with postmenopausal bleeding and asymptomatic women diagnosed with high-grade endometrial cancer. Recurrence-free, disease-specific and overall survival were assessed using the Kaplan Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Risk factors for recurrence and death were evaluated using Cox regression analysis; the primary exposure variable assessed was the presence of postmenopausal bleeding.

Results

Of the 584 women with high-grade histology, 498 (85.3 %) presented with postmenopausal bleeding and 86 (14.7 %) were asymptomatic. The median follow-up was 52 months (12–120 months). There was no difference in recurrence-free survival between women diagnosed with postmenopausal bleeding and asymptomatic women (70.1 % vs.64.6 % at 5 years, p = 0.35, respectively). There were no significant differences in disease-specific survival (66.3 % vs. 64.2 % at 5 years, p = 0.83) or in overall survival (56.4 % vs. 58 % at five years, p = 0.55) between study groups. The multivariate Cox regression analysis did not reveal any significant association between postmenopausal bleeding and survival.

Conclusion

In this study, the diagnosis of high-grade endometrial cancer in asymptomatic women was not associated with earlier disease stage at diagnosis. In women with incidental ultrasonographic findings of a thickened endometrium or polyp, routine invasive evaluation may be unnecessary.