Can Molecular Profiling Reduce Radiation for Women with Endometrial Cancer?

New Delhi, May 5 (NationPress) Molecular profiling can effectively minimize radiotherapy for women diagnosed with early-stage endometrial cancer while pinpointing those who would gain from more aggressive treatment, according to research that signifies a pivotal advancement in personalized cancer care.

Endometrial cancer, a common form of gynecological cancer, primarily affects women post-menopause.

For those with high-intermediate-risk conditions, adjuvant radiotherapy—especially vaginal brachytherapy (a targeted internal radiotherapy directed at the vaginal region)—is frequently administered after surgery to lower the chances of cancer recurrence.

Nevertheless, not all patients require the same level of treatment, and some may undergo unnecessary procedures, facing potential side effects without any true advantage.

The study indicates that molecular profiling, a technique that evaluates the genetic and biological attributes of a tumor, can inform clinical choices. It aids in determining which patients are most likely to benefit from radiotherapy and those who can safely forgo it.

The research involved 592 women from eight European nations with (high-) intermediate-risk endometrial cancer.

Presented at the ongoing ESTRO 2025, the annual congress of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) in Vienna, Austria, the findings underscore that molecular profiling can customize radiotherapy strategies according to individual tumor traits.

Almost half of the participants in the study successfully avoided radiation without jeopardizing cancer control.

“Through molecular profiling, we can customize treatment based on each patient’s unique risk,” stated Dr. Anne Sophie V.M. van den Heerik, lead researcher from The Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands.

“This methodology enables us to safely reduce radiotherapy for many women while ensuring those who truly need it receive the most effective treatment. It represents a significant move towards more personalized and less invasive cancer therapies,” Heerik added.

Moreover, patients with an unfavorable molecular profile were given a more aggressive radiation regimen, pelvic radiotherapy, instead of vaginal brachytherapy, resulting in superior locoregional control, with a recurrence rate of 8.4% compared to 30.5% in those receiving standard treatment without molecular profiling.

The results illustrate that nearly half of the patients can be spared radiotherapy while still achieving excellent survival rates.