Endometrial Carcinoma in Portugal: Demographic, Diagnostic and Treatment Changes in the Last 5 Decades

Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is nowadays the most frequent gynecologic malignancy. Incidence is increasing, but studies characterizing the changes in demographics, diagnosis, and treatment over the years are scarce. We performed a retrospective observational study of a consecutive series of EC patients (n = 188) diagnosed at a Portuguese tertiary hospital between 2000 and 2010. Clinical data were reviewed, and pathologic material was reevaluated according to the current diagnostic and staging guidelines. In addition, we performed a comprehensive PubMed and IndexRMP search that identified 2 previous Portuguese endometrial cancer studies: Study 1 referred to cases from 1963 to 1968 (n = 260) and Study 2 to cases from 1991 to 1993 (n = 57). Results from the present and the previous studies were compared. An increased proportion (present study vs. Study 1/Study 2) of elderly women (70.2% vs. 55.0%/57.0%) as well as comorbidities like obesity (54.3% vs. 44.2%/36.4%), hypertension (66.4% vs. 33.8%/42.1%), and diabetes (29.8% vs. 18%/8.7%) was observed over the years. There was a trend (present study vs. Study 1) to increased use of surgical staging (surgery 90.4% vs. 78.2%; lymphadenectomy 27.7% vs. 16.9%) and decreased use of radiotherapy (52.7% vs. 89.6%). The overall 5-yr survival in our series (78.4%) was better than that in Study 1 (57.3%; absent in Study 2). This study provides a perspective of the endometrial cancer epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment changes that occurred in Portugal during the last 5 decades, these most probably reflecting what happened in other European countries. Substantial improvement in diagnosis and treatment of EC ensued, having a positive impact on survival, even though nowadays patients are older and with additional comorbidities.