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Most patients with endometrial cancer will present with early-stage disease. Although the rate of metastasis in these patients is low, proffering excellent prognoses, the standard of treatment in many practices still includes a complete or selective pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy for staging; and accurate surgical staging is the most important prognostic factor. Many patients will undergo a comprehensive lymphadenectomy despite having disease confined to the uterus, resulting in prolonged operating time, additional cost, and potential side effects, such as lower extremity lymphedema. However, recent studies show that a complete lymphadenectomy may have no therapeutic benefit in patients with early-stage endometrial cancer. Sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping, which has been used in other cancer types, may be an acceptable surgical strategy between a complete lymphadenectomy and no nodal evaluation in patients with endometrial cancer. SLN mapping is based on the concept that lymph node metastasis is the result of an orderly process; that is, lymph drains in a specific pattern away from the tumor, and therefore, if the SLN, or first node, is negative for metastasis, then the nodes after the SLN should also be negative. This approach can help patients avoid the side effects associated with a complete lymphadenectomy, although disease must be thoroughly staged for accurate prognosis and determination of appropriate treatment approach. Surgeon experience, adherence to an SLN algorithm, and the use of pathologic “ultrastaging” are key factors for successful SLN mapping.

Endometrial cancer has moved from being a histologic diagnosis alone to one that also considers the molecular classification of the tumor. Molecular classification is not only feasible but highly recommended because it improves the diagnostic classification and provides prognostic information that may guide treatment. The NCCN Cervical/Uterine Cancers Guidelines recognize the novel approach proposed by FIGO, but has concerns about the 2023 FIGO staging system and therefore does not recommend its use by clinicians. Advances in systemic treatment, particularly the introduction of immunotherapy, has greatly improved outcomes in endometrial cancer, especially for patients with mismatch repair–deficient tumors.

Cervical cancer often affects individuals aged <50 years, with the main cause being a long-lasting infection with certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Prevention of cervical cancer includes screening tests and the HPV vaccine and, if found early, it can be treatable. Metastatic disease, however, is more lethal and is a significant problem worldwide due to screening and treatment limitations. Clinicians should discuss early detection options and treatment modalities with patients with cervical cancer for informed decision-making.

This article describes the surgical and pathologic findings of fertility-sparing radical trachelectomy using a standardized surgical technique, and reports the rate of posttrachelectomy outcomes. The authors analyzed a prospectively maintained database of all patients with FIGO stage IA1–IB1 cervical cancer admitted to the operating room for planned fertility-sparing radical abdominal trachelectomy. Sentinel node mapping was performed through cervical injection. Between November 2001 and May 2010, 98 consecutive patients with FIGO stage IA1–IB1 cervical cancer and a median age of 32 years (range, 6–45 years) underwent a fertility-sparing radical trachelectomy. The most common histology was adenocarcinoma in 54 patients (55%) and squamous carcinoma in 42 (43%). Lymph-vascular invasion was seen in 38 patients (39%). FIGO stages included IA1 (with lymph-vascular invasion) in 10 patients (10%), IA2 in 9 (9%), and IB1 in 79 (81%). Only 15 (15%) needed immediate completion radical hysterectomy because of intraoperative findings. Median number of nodes evaluated was 22 (range, 3–54), and 16 (16%) patients had positive pelvic nodes on final pathology. Final trachelectomy pathology showed no residual disease in 44 (45%) cases, dysplasia in 5 (5%), and adenocarcinoma in situ in 3 (3%). Overall, 27 (27%) patients needed hysterectomy or adjuvant pelvic radiation postoperatively. One (1%) documented recurrence was fatal at the time of this report. Cervical adenocarcinoma and lymph-vascular invasion are common features of patients selected for radical trachelectomy. Most patients can undergo the operation successfully with many having no residual invasive disease; however, nearly 27% of all selected cases will require hysterectomy or postoperative chemoradiation for oncologic reasons. Investigation into alternative fertility-sparing adjuvant therapy in patients with node-positive disease is needed.

Endometrial cancers are the most common gynecologic malignancies. The staging of endometrial cancer has evolved from a clinical-based system to a comprehensive surgical-pathologic approach that allows for better risk stratification and treatment planning. Over the past few years, use of NCCN's sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping algorithm for the surgical staging of endometrial cancer has gained significant acceptance and is now commonly applied in many practices. However, pathologic evaluation of prognostic factors is beset by challenges, including the reproducibility of histologic classification and FIGO's grading, as well as the questionable clinical significance of low-volume tumor in SLNs. With the revelation of major genomic classes of endometrial cancer comes the potential for improved, reproducible, and prognostically relevant classification schemes, which integrate traditional pathologic parameters with genomic findings, to aid in treatment decisions. Pathologic identification of new variants of endometrial cancer, such as undifferentiated carcinoma, continues to advance the phenotypic spectrum of these tumors, spurring genomic and functional studies to further characterize their mechanistic underpinnings and potentially reveal new avenues for treatment. In the era of precision medicine, pathologic assessment of biomarkers (eg, mismatch repair proteins) and recognition of phenotypes that are amenable to specific targeted therapies (such as POLE-mutated tumors) have become integral to the management of women with endometrial carcinoma.

These NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Cervical Cancer focus on early-stage disease, because it occurs more frequently in the United States. After careful clinical evaluation and staging, the primary treatment of early-stage cervical cancer is either surgery or radiotherapy. These guidelines include fertility-sparing and non-fertility-sparing treatment for those with early-stage disease, which is disease confined to the uterus. A new fertility-sparing algorithm was added for select patients with stage IA and IB1 disease..

Adenocarcinoma of the endometrium (also known as endometrial cancer or more broadly as uterine cancer or carcinoma of the uterine corpus) is the most common malignancy of the female genital tract in the United States. An estimated 49,560 new uterine cancer cases will occur in 2013, with 8190 deaths resulting from the disease. Uterine sarcomas (stromal/mesenchymal tumors) are uncommon malignancies, accounting for approximately 3% of all uterine cancers. The NCCN Guidelines for Uterine Neoplasms describe malignant epithelial carcinomas and uterine sarcomas; each of these major categories contains specific histologic groups that require different management. This excerpt of these guidelines focuses on early-stage disease.