[Is it possible to screen for endometrial carcinoma? Incidence and risk factors].

Endometrial cancer affects 2-3% of American women. It is more common in obese, postmenopausal women with diabetes, hypertension, low parity, and late menopause. The prevalence of endometrial cancer among women who present with postmenopausal bleeding varies from 1.50-90%, most textbooks report a rate of 20%. Endometrial cancer is common, and although mortality rates relatively low, there are theoretical reasons suggesting that it could become a more serious problem in the future. The decreasing use of hysterectomy may leave more women at risk for endometrial cancer in future years. In contrast to cervical cancer, no routine mass screening programs for the early detection of endometrial cancer have been organized. It is of primary importance to define risk groups when designing mass screening programs. All of the methods used by cytologists for studying endometrial changes have limitations. Cervicovaginal smears allows diagnosis of, at best, 60% to 70% of carcinomas of the endometrium. Intrauterine sampling is another possible method. It consists of direct aspiration of the uterine cavity, scraping or brushing of the mucosa or uterine washing. Any method of endometrial sampling is imperfect, even dilatation and curettage has been shown to miss endometrial carcinoma. The quality of evidence supporting screening for endometrial cancer is of a low level. The lack of an effective, inexpensive and easy-to-use sampling method is the reason for the non-existent decline in the incidence of invasive endometrial carcinoma.