Endometrial cancer is one type of uterine cancer and is the most common gynecologic cancer in Europe and in North America.
New Biomarker
Researchers at the universities in Uppsala, Sweden; Turku, Finland; and Bergen, Norway, were able to identify patients who are at increased risk for recurrence based on the amount of ASRGL1 present in the patient’s tumor cells. This newly found biomarker, ASRGL1, is a type of protein that is typically found in healthy uterine cells.
The researchers found that patients who had higher levels of ASRGL1 in their uterine cells had a much lower risk for the cancer returning than those with little to no ASRGL1 in their cells.
ASRGL1 was also found to be an independent prognostic factor that is not related to the stage or grade of the tumor.
What This Means for the Future
Results of the study indicate that ASRGL1 could eventually be used as a diagnostic tool to identify women who may need more extensive treatment because of their higher risk for uterine cancer recurrence, but more research is needed.
Additional studies are already being planned to determine if ASRGL1 can also be used for diagnosing tissue biopsies before surgery.
Full article: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150414083720.htm
Patient Resources
American Cancer Society
www.cancer.org/cancer/uterinesarcoma/
National Cancer Institute
www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/uterine