Onkológia 5/2020

Targeted diagnosis of endometrial cancer

Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is the most common malignancy of the female genital organs and represents a heterogeneous group of tumors whose biological behavior depends on many clinicopathological characteristics (age, type, grade and stage of the disease), but also on several genetic and epigenetic alterations, on the basis of which the EC was established and further progressed. The article presents the current overview of diagnostics and classification systems of EC up to the implementation of the latest knowledge in the field of molecular pathology in the complex taxonomy of EC with its application in diagnostic-therapeutic management of patients with EC. The genomic classification, which was created by the TCGA project (The Cancer Genome Atlas) and subsequently modified into a practical model, complements, refines and modifies clinicopathological prognostic characteristics and provides information on the genetic basis and state of the tumor microenvironment necessary for further therapeutic management of the EC. Equally important are the findings in the field of epigenetics, which clarify many processes of carcinogenesis and disease progression.

Keywords: endometrium, cancer, classification, molecular pathology, therapy