Each year, approximately 3,000 Australia women are diagnosed with endometrial cancer and due to the increasing prevalence of overweight issues and obesity (the main and increasing endometrial risk factor), a rising number of patients are diagnosed young or have multiple severe medical comorbidities.
Currently, hysterectomy is the standard treatment and guidelines also mandate a lymph node dissection (LND) to determine the extent of the disease. While sentinel-LHD is routinely performed, there is no evidence of benefits to patients. Sentinel-LHD may even be problematic because it increases risk of procedure-related morbidity; delays with postoperative recovery; and prolongs operation and anaesthetic time.
ENDO-3 is a world-first randomised clinical trial investigating the benefits and risks of sentinel node biopsy during the treatment of women with endometrial cancer.
The trial will randomise 760 patients with stage I endometrial cancer to surgery with lymph node dissection vs no lymph node dissection. The aim is to determine the probability of disease-free survival at 4 years.
This project involves a multidisciplinary team with expertise in surgery, medical and radiation oncology, exercise physiology, behavioural and molecular science.
Since the commencement of the trial in 2021, 13 surgeons and 109 patients have been enrolled.
