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Staging means finding out how far uterine sarcoma has spread in your body. Physicians group uterine sarcoma into stages I (1) through IV (4), with stage I being the least advanced and stage IV being the most advanced. When your Fred Hutch Cancer Center team designs your treatment plan, they will take into account the stage of your cancer along with many other factors. The stage is an important part of choosing which treatments are right for you.
The stage depends on whether the cancer has spread:
- Outside the uterus
- Beyond the pelvic area or to tissues in the abdomen
- To any lymph nodes
- To other organs, like your bladder, or other parts of your body, such as your bones
Uterine Sarcoma Care Tailored to You
You and your family are our top priority. At Fred Hutch Cancer Center, we offer comprehensive and compassionate care — personalized to you. You'll have access to the latest treatment options, clinical trials and supportive care services.
Referrals are required for new patients. Please request your primary care provider or specialist fax all relevant medical information to the fax number listed below.
- Phone: 206.598.8300
- Fax: 206.598.3590
Stages of Uterine Sarcoma
The most common staging system for gynecologic cancers, including uterine sarcoma, is the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2021 system. This is the system that gynecologic oncologists at Fred Hutch use.
Here’s what each stage means in more detail:
Stage I (1)
Cancer is only in the uterus. It has not spread to any lymph nodes or distant parts of the body.
Stage II (2)
Cancer has spread beyond the uterus but not outside the pelvic area. It has not spread to any lymph nodes or distant parts of the body.
Stage III (3)
Cancer has spread to the abdomen but not to any lymph nodes or distant parts of the body; or cancer has spread to lymph nodes near the uterus but not to the bladder, rectum or distant parts of the body.
Stage IV (4)
Cancer has spread to the bladder or rectum, lymph nodes outside the pelvis or organs outside the pelvis, such as the lungs, liver or bones.
How to Know Your Uterine Sarcoma Stage
After you are diagnosed with uterine sarcoma, you will have imaging scans and other tests, like biopsies, to tell if the cancer has spread and to where. In a biopsy, a pathologist checks samples of tissue under a microscope to see if they contain cancer cells.
For uterine sarcoma, staging is typically done at the time of surgery. This means you and your care team will probably need to wait until after surgery to make some of your treatment decisions.
Uterine Sarcoma Survival Rates
In cancer care, “survival rate” usually means the percentage of people expected to survive their cancer for at least five years from the time it was diagnosed. Data experts estimate this rate based on information about large groups of people with the same type of cancer. The rate doesn’t include the risk of dying during that five years for some other reason.
Even within a subset of people, like those with localized disease, there will be differences. Patients may have different treatments and respond to treatments in different ways.
This means it’s impossible to predict the likely lifespan of any one person based on survival rates. If you would like to know more about the outlook for your disease, talk with your Fred Hutch care team. They can tell you more based on your unique situation.
At Fred Hutch, we will tailor your treatment plan to you. In general, people who have the same stage of uterine sarcoma often have the same or similar treatments. Common treatments by stage may include:
- Stage I: Surgery to remove the tumor. Sometimes surgeons need to remove nearby organs or lymph nodes. Some people have radiation therapy or chemotherapy after surgery.
- Stage II: Surgery to remove the tumor and sometimes nearby organs or lymph nodes. Some people have radiation therapy or chemotherapy after surgery.
- Stage III: Surgery to remove the tumor and all other tissue where there’s evidence of cancer. Some people have radiation therapy or chemotherapy after surgery.
- Stage IV: Treatment depends on your needs and preferences. There’s no standard plan for everyone with stage IV disease. Your care team may recommend a clinical trial testing a promising approach.
Based on the features of their disease, some people may have hormonal therapy or targeted therapy for cancer that has spread beyond the uterus or come back after treatment.
Learn more about uterine sarcoma treatment.
Researchers at Fred Hutch and beyond are always looking for better ways to treat advanced or metastatic uterine sarcoma. Clinical trials are going on to test new drugs or new combinations of drugs. Two important areas of research are targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Targeted therapies are newer cancer treatments that work more selectively than standard chemotherapy. Immunotherapies use the power of your immune system to fight your cancer.
New medicines aren’t the only line of inquiry. Other advanced approaches are helping people with late-stage disease get better results. For example, some patients may be eligible for CRS-HIPEC. For this treatment, surgeons remove tumors they can see. Then they bathe the inside of the abdomen in warm liquid chemotherapy. Fred Hutch offers this treatment, which isn’t available at all cancer centers.
Learn more about uterine sarcoma treatment.