Back to Journals » Cancer Management and Research » Volume 5

Serous endometrial intraepithelial carcinoma: a case series and literature review

Authors Pathiraja P, Dhar S, Haldar K

Received 13 March 2013

Accepted for publication 21 April 2013

Published 17 June 2013 Volume 2013:5 Pages 117—122

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/CMAR.S45141

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 5



P Pathiraja, S Dhar, K Haldar

Oxford University Hospital, Oxford, UK

Background: Minimal uterine serous cancer (MUSC) or serous endometrial intraepithelial carcinoma (EIC) has been described by many different names since 1998. There have been very few cases reported in literature since EIC/MUSC was recognized as a separate entity. The World health Organization (WHO) Classification favors the term serous EIC. Although serous EIC is confined to the uterine endometrium at initial histology diagnosis, a significant number of patients could have distal metastasis at diagnosis, without symptoms. Serous EIC is considered as being the precursor of uterine serous cancer (USC), but pure serous EIC also has an aggressive behavior similar to USC. It is therefore prudent to have an accurate diagnosis and appropriate surgical staging. There are very few published articles in literature that discuss the pure form of serous EIC. The aim of this series is to share our experience and review evidence for optimum management of serous EIC.
Patients and methods: We report a series of five women treated in our institute in the last 3 years. We reviewed the relevant literature on serous EIC and various management strategies, to recommend best clinical practice.
Conclusion: Pure serous EIC is a difficult histopathological diagnosis, which requires ancillary immunohistochemical staining. It can have an aggressive clinical behavior with early recurrence and poor survival. Optimum surgical staging, with appropriate adjuvant treatment, should be discussed when treating these patients.

Keywords: serous EIC, minimal uterine serous cancer, papillary serous endometrial cancer

Creative Commons License © 2013 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.