Uterine Cancer Treatments
Endometrial/Uterine Cancer Treatment Options
If you’ve been diagnosed with uterine or endometrial cancer, there are several different treatment options available. Our dedicated team of experts take a patient-centered approach to creating a treatment plan based on your specific situation.
Here at City of Hope, we use the latest advances to help treat endometrial/uterine cancer at any stage.
Some of the treatments we use include:
Surgery
City of Hope surgeons are experts in the use of minimally invasive surgical techniques that result in less pain and scarring, less loss of blood and a faster return to normal life.
We offer the latest advances in the surgical management of endometrial cancer provided by specially trained gynecologic oncology surgeons. For women with endometrial cancer, our goal is to locate and remove as much of the tumor tissue as possible. This type of surgery, known as “debulking,” helps us to understand the extent of the cancer in the uterus and elsewhere in the abdomen, and allows us to remove all of the visible cancer.
- Total hysterectomy: Also known as a complete hysterectomy, this surgery removes the whole uterus and cervix.
- Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy: This procedure removes the ovaries and fallopian tubes.
- Radical hysterectomy: A radical hysterectomy removes the uterus, cervix and part of the vagina. In some cases, the ovaries, fallopian tubes and nearby lymph nodes may also require removal.
Radiation Therapy
At City of Hope, we are experts in the use of highly precise radiation delivery, increasing its effectiveness against cancer while reducing exposure to normal tissues.
For external beam radiation, we offer image-guided therapies that can minimize toxicity to nearby organs (bowel, bladder and rectum). By using advanced imaging technologies such as positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and three-dimensional computed tomography scans, our team can accurately determine the tumor’s location so radiation delivery can be more focused and intense on cancer cells.
Combined with advanced radiation delivery systems (such as TomoTherapy), our team can accurately focus radiation on tumor sites while avoiding nearby normal tissues. In the two left images below, the glowing areas are gynecologic tumors that disappeared (in the right images) after TomoTherapy treatment. City of Hope also offers brachytherapy (internal radiation) for patients as well.
Drug Therapy
Chemotherapy uses anti-cancer drugs to destroy cancer cells. The medicines are made to attack and kill all fast growing cells in the body, some of which are normal cells. Because of this, chemotherapy can also harm those cells, causing side effects.
At City of Hope, we focus on individually customized chemotherapy regimens, including intraperitoneal and heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy.