Introduction: Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecologic malignancy in the developed world and is increasing in incidence. While the mainstay of treatment for EC is surgery followed by chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, the available pharmacotherapies are rapidly and constantly evolving. Understanding these new therapies is an important part of the research and clinical care of women with EC. A review of available literature from MEDLINE (1879-2015) was conducted for the historic treatments and current therapies available for endometrial tumors.
Areas covered: This article reviews the current conventional therapies and discusses novel therapeutic agents, some of which are available to clinicians while others are currently being investigated in the preclinical setting.
Expert opinion: Genomic and immunohistochemical characterization of endometrial cancer may soon be the best approach for the identification of aggressive forms of tumor. Targeted therapies will soon be standard in the management of endometrial cancer.
Keywords: Adjuvant therapy; chemotherapy; endometrial cancer; endometrial pharmacotherapy; hormone therapy; targeted therapy; uterine cancer.