Funded by 2018 Kay Yow Cancer Fund Final Four Research Award
Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecologic cancer in the developed world, and the 4th most common cancer in women in the United States, with over 60,000 diagnoses expected in 2017. While most women diagnosed with EC have a favorable prognosis following hysterectomy, a subset have poor outcome despite what is thought to be a “low risk” disease. Identification of factors that predict poor outcome have been elusive to date. With the expansion of the knowledge of the genetic basis of cancer, we and others have begun exploring “molecular” prognostic factors – the genetic signature of the cancer that may predict outcome. This proposal aims to study a large sample of women with EC, testing their cancer for its genetic signature, and correlating this signature with clinical outcome. Identification of the signature that predicts outcome will allow for a more refined approach to identification of women who would benefit from additional therapy following hysterectomy to improve survival. This will be done in a process that is able to be replicated in most hospital laboratories, allowing this project to be relevant and accessible in all communities in which women are diagnosed with this disease.
