Uterine, or endometrial, cancer is often diagnosed at an early stage, when it’s confined to the uterus — making surgery highly effective and, in most cases, curative on its own. Surgery serves a dual purpose here: removing the cancer completely while also providing the detailed staging information — depth of invasion, lymph node status, tumour grade — that determines whether any additional treatment is needed afterward.

Treatment planning begins with imaging and endometrial biopsy to confirm diagnosis and assess disease extent. Surgery typically involves removal of the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, most often performed through minimally invasive or robotic-assisted approaches, which offer faster recovery with the same oncological safety as open surgery for most patients. Lymph node assessment, often through sentinel node mapping, is performed alongside to accurately stage the disease. In select early-stage, low-grade cases where fertility preservation is a priority, non-surgical or uterus-preserving approaches may be considered.

Because subsequent treatment decisions depend heavily on final surgical staging, every case is discussed within a multidisciplinary tumour board — gynaecologic oncology, medical oncology, and radiation oncology working together to determine whether any additional therapy is needed after surgery.