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Renovated (nondual) approach to endometrial cancer typing: endocrine and inflammatory issues


Endometrial cancer (EC) has lately become a focus of attention due to the rise in its incidence noted during the last decades [1] and the multitude of factors involved in its pathogenesis and progression pathways. Some of these factors are initiated in one way or another by hormonal stimuli. The most typical and widely known example is an estrogenic excess and progesterone deficit combined with involvement of endometrial receptors [2]. The second important group of factors discussed is metabolic disturbances (insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, hyperlipidemia and other metabolic syndrome components) [3,4], which are gradually becoming more prominent due to obesity epidemics and the shift in the ratio of certain obesity phenotypes [5]. Besides the hormonal (in particular, steroid) and metabolic components, there is an inflammatory component, which is presumed to act as the third important factor able to influence EC development [6]. The exact associations of these factors with rapidly changing basic conceptions on EC and with separate types of this tumor are still to be elucidated.

Click here to view the full article in Future Oncology.