Stratified follow-up for endometrial cancer: a move to more personalized cancer care

Abstract

ObjectiveHospital based follow-up has been the standard of care for endometrial cancer. Patient initiated follow-up is a useful adjunct for lower risk cancers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes of endometrial cancer patients after stratification into risk groupings, with particular attention to salvageable relapses.MethodsAll patients treated surgically for International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage I–IVA endometrial cancer of all histological subtypes, from January 2009 until March 2019, were analyzed. Patient and tumor characteristics, treatment details, relapse, death, and last follow-up dates were collected. Site of relapse, presence of symptoms, and whether relapses were salvageable were also identified. The European Society of Medical Oncology–European Society of Gynecological Oncology 2020 risk stratification was assigned, and relapse free and overall survival were estimated.Results900 patients met the eligibility criteria. Median age was 66 years (range 28–96) and follow-up duration was 35 months (interquartile range 19–57). In total, 16% (n=144) of patients relapsed, 1.3% (n=12) from the low risk group, 3.9% (n=35) from the intermediate risk group, 2.2% (n=20) from the high–intermediate risk group, and 8.7% (n=77) from the high risk group. Salvageable relapses were less frequent at 2% (n=18), of which 33% (n=6) were from the low risk group, 22% (n=4) from the intermediate risk group, 11% (n=2) from the high–intermediate risk group, and 33% (n=6) from the high risk group. There were only three asymptomatic relapses in the low risk patients, accounting for 0.33% of the entire cohort.ConclusionsRelapses were infrequent and most presented with symptoms; prognosis after relapse remains favorable. Overall salvageable relapses were infrequent and cannot justify intensive hospital based follow-up. Use of patient initiated follow-up is therefore appropriate, as per the British Gynaecological Cancer Society's guidelines, for all risk groupings.