In the Western World, endometrial cancer is the most common gynaecological malignancy. It continues to rise in incidence coincident with rising obesity rates. The majority of women diagnosed with endometrial cancer will be cured with surgery alone and so addressing the co-morbid conditions present in the majority of women with this cancer is extremely important as these are likely to lead to their early demise rather than the cancer itself. Furthermore a number of women wishing to retain fertility diagnosed with endometrial cancer is rising with the need for exploration and support of conservative/medical management approaches.

Multi-centre international studies have shown that minimal access surgery techniques are preferable for women with endometrial cancer and do not compromise long-term outcomes. The role of lymphadenectomy remains controversial but management algorithms including sentinel lymph node assessment show promise with the hope of reducing the significant morbidity associated with a procedure which has been shown to have little therapeutic benefit.

These areas will be explored further in this presentation as well as the recently reported PORTEC 3 study which has shown some benefit in reducing recurrence with chemotherapy in addition to radiotherapy but little impact on overall survival in high risk patients.