Tehran University Medical Journal

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Background: Although endometrial cancer is primarily a disease of the postmenopausal female, 25% of patients are premenopausal, with 3-5% in women 40 years old or younger. The younger group of women with endometrial carcinoma are frequently nulligravid with a history of infertility, and a strong desire to preserve fertility. This may pose a therapeutic dilemma for both patients and treating physician.
Case report: We reported 3 young patients with atypical complex hyperplasia or early stage endometrial cancer that treated with conservative hormonal therapy.
Conclusion: Medical treatment of young patients with endometrial carcinoma and complex atypical hyperplasia who wish to preserve fertility is a reasonable and appealing option. A comprehensive evaluation prior to counseling the patient should include A complete history and physical examination. A formal D&C with review of history with an experienced gyn-onc pathologist. Evaluation of the pelvic and abdomen preferably with contrast-enhanced MRI or transvaginal ultrasound. In patients found to have a clinical stage I grade I tumor and who want to preserve fertility , thorough counseling include risks and benefits, and explanation that the data is partial and incomplete due to the lack of appropriate controlled studies is mandatory. In patients considered for medical treatment, a high dose progestin regimen should be started with endometrial sampling every 3 months until complete regression of the tumor is documented. Although most responses are long standing, there is a small risk of progression during or after cessation of progestin therapy.

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Background: The use of serial quantitative beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) with transvaginal ultrasound to enhance early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy (EP) improves options for conservative treatment with methotrexate (MTX). The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of unruptured EP treated with a single dose of intramuscular MTX injection.

Methods: This clinical trial included 41 EP patients with specific inclusion criteria for medical treatment. For each patient, MTX (50 mg/ml) was administered intramuscularly and a repeat dose was given if the weekly decrease in the level of β-HCG was less than 15%. The therapy was considered successful if the level of β-HCG fell below 10 mIU/cc without surgical intervention.

Results: Overall, 78% of the patients were successfully treated, among whom 18.7% received second doses of MTX. Of the patients who were successfully treated, 60% presented with vaginal bleeding without pelvic pain however, of those patients in whom the treatment failed, 88% presented with pelvic pain together with vaginal bleeding. Furthermore, the presence of free peritoneal fluid on vaginal ultrasound was a significant predictor of treatment failure (p<0.005). There was no relation between the women's age, gravidity or parity, the size of the conceptus, gestational age, pretreatment serum β-HCG titer, endometrial thickness on vaginal ultrasound and the efficacy of treatment.

Conclusions: With a reasonably high success rate, we found systemic single-dose MTX treatment to be a safe, conservative therapy for EP. However, when free peritoneal fluid is noted upon transvaginal ultrasound or when the patient presents with pain, the threshold for surgical intervention may be lower.