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Review
. 2020 Mar 14;12(3):686.
doi: 10.3390/cancers12030686.

Pathogenesis and Clinical Management of Uterine Serous Carcinoma

Li Zhang  1 , Suet Ying Kwan  1 , Kwong Kwok Wong  1   2 , Pamela T Solaman  1   2 , Karen H Lu  1   2 , Samuel C Mok  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Pathogenesis and Clinical Management of Uterine Serous Carcinoma

Li Zhang et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Uterine serous carcinoma (USC) is an aggressive variant of endometrial cancer that has not been well characterized. It accounts for less than 10% of all endometrial cancers and 80% of endometrial cancer-related deaths. Currently, staging surgery together with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, especially vaginal cuff brachytherapy, is the main treatment strategy for USC. Whole-exome sequencing combined with preclinical and clinical studies are verifying a series of effective and clinically accessible inhibitors targeting frequently altered genes, such as HER2 and PI3K3CA, in varying USC patient populations. Some progress has also been made in the immunotherapy field. The PD-1/PD-L1 pathway has been found to be activated in many USC patients, and clinical trials of PD-1 inhibitors in USC are underway. This review updates the progress of research regarding the molecular pathogenesis and putative clinical management of USC.

Keywords: endometrial cancer; uterine serous carcinoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Molecular pathogenesis of endometrioid and uterine serous carcinoma.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The 20 most frequently mutated genes in uterine serous carcinoma. Data were extracted from the COSMIC v90 database [31].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mutation matrix of 206 uterine serous carcinomas. Data were extracted from the COSMIC v90 database [31], and the 20 most frequently mutated genes in uterine serous carcinoma are presented. Each column represents a single sample.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Summary of altered molecular pathways and their communications in USC.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Molecular targeted therapy in uterine serous carcinoma. Reported drugs targeting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, cell cycle regulation, and the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway are under clinical investigation for the treatment of patients with uterine serous carcinoma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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