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Continued From Page 20 tween age 60 and 70 , although it can occur in younger ages . Some risk factors for endometrial cancer include obesity , the use of estrogen without progesterone , diabetes , use of tamoxifen and genetic predisposition . There is no routine screening for endometrial cancer , as it is usually found in its early stage . The most common symptom is vaginal bleeding , which is typically evaluated with an office biopsy or D & C . Surgery alone is usually curative for most women . Minimally invasive surgery is the preferred approach to surgery . Fertility-sparing options for patients with low-risk disease are also available . Some women may require chemotherapy and / or radiation , depending on their final pathology . A key advance is the use of sentinel lymphatic mapping , which has become a standard option in the staging of endometrial cancer . Benefits include lower rates of complications , including cellulitis and lymphedema . Immune checkpoint inhibitors have also recently been approved in
patients with tumors with certain biomarkers and have progressed following prior treatment .
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center By Serena Wong , M . D ., Medical Site Director , MSK Monmouth
Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women . Advances in our understanding of the biology and genetics of the disease have led to new and improved therapies . There are three main subtypes of breast cancer and each can be targeted by novel approaches . The addition of CDK4 / 6 inhibitors to estrogen-blocking agents in patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer improves outcomes . Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer now have access to a plethora of HER2-targeted drugs that can control their disease for years . We also know that a proportion of patients with triple-negative breast cancer derive benefit from the addition of immune-stimulating drugs . Personalized medicine refers to tailoring a patient ’ s treatment according to specific genetic changes driving their cancer and is an active area of research . Successes in this arena include the approval of a drug for patients whose cancers carry a mutation in the PIK3CA gene , as well as the use of
Minimally invasive surgery is the preferred approach to many cancers . Continued On Page 24
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