Background: Endometrial cancer and atypical hyperplasia are rare in young women but create a dilemma between desire for pregnancy and oncologic outcomes.
Objective: To identify remission rates and associated prognostic factors in patients undergoing fertility-sparing management for endometrial cancer and atypical hyperplasia.
Search strategy: MEDLINE was searched for studies published between January 1, 1950 and July 31, 2017 using various search terms.
Selection criteria: Studies evaluating fertility-sparing management in patients aged between 19 and 44 years with atypical hyperplasia or stage I endometrial cancer.
Data collection and analysis: Use of PRISMA guidelines to conduct a meta-analysis of the proportion of patients in remission and meta-regression analysis to test the effect of possible prognostic factors for remission.
Main results: A total of 3673 studies were screened; 65 studies including 1604 patients met the inclusion criteria. The remission rate was 0.75 (95% CI, 0.73-0.77). Operative hysteroscopy for endometrial sampling was associated with higher remission rates (OR 2.31; 95% CI, 1.10-4.84; P=0.03). Studies with higher ratios of infertile women were associated with higher remission rates (OR 4.21; 95% CI, 1.44-12.33; P<0.01).
Conclusion: Operative hysteroscopy is the preferred endometrial sampling method for patients with atypical hyperplasia or endometrial cancer undergoing fertility-sparing management.
Keywords: Adenocarcinoma; Atypical hyperplasia; Endometrial cancer; Fertility sparing; Meta-analysis; Operative hysteroscopy; Remission; Systematic review.
© 2019 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.