Bariatric surgery: Does it play a role in fertility-preserving treatment among obese young women with endometrial cancer?

Abstract

We present the case of a 17-year-old nulliparous woman with a history of obesity (body mass index 36.2 kg/m(2)), type 2 diabetes, and polycystic ovary syndrome, who was diagnosed with grade 1 endometrioid adenocarcinoma without radiological evidence of myometrial invasion or metastatic disease. After failure of a fertility-preserving treatment with a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device, bariatric surgery was proposed to treat the obesity and improve control of her type 2 diabetes in an attempt to increase the chances of obtaining response to local treatment. Nine months after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and 18 months after insertion of the intrauterine device, the patient reached normal body weight (body mass index 20.3 kg/m(2)) and showed complete response to treatment. As far as we know, this is the first published case of an adolescent obese patient treated with bariatric surgery concomitantly with fertility-preserving management of endometrial cancer. We propose that bariatric surgery may play a role as an adjuvant therapy in fertility-preserving treatment of endometrial cancer with local progestin, in which it could enhance remission rates and reduce recurrence.