Endometrial cancer in elderly women: Which disease, which surgical management? A systematic review of the literature

Abstract

Objective: Endometrial cancer primarily affects elderly women. The aim of the present literature review is to define the population of elderly women with this disease and to define the characteristics of this cancer in elderly people as well as its surgical treatment.

Materials and methods: A systematic review of the English-language literature of the last 20 years indexed in the PubMed database.

Results: Endometrial cancer is more aggressive in elderly women. However, surgical staging performed in elderly patients is often not concomitant with the disease's aggressiveness in this group. Mini-invasive surgery is performed less often, for no obvious reason. Of note, oncogeriatric evaluation was not usually ruled out to determine the most appropriate surgical modality.

Conclusion: Studies are needed to evaluate surgical management of endometrial cancer in elderly women, notably with the aid of oncogeriatric scores to predict surgical morbidity.

Keywords: Elderly women; Endometrial cancer; Oncogeriatric scores; Surgical approach.