In this episode of the IJGC podcast, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Pedro Ramirez is joined by Drs. Mario Leitao and Andreas Obermair to discuss FIGO endometrial staging. Dr. Mario Leitao is currently an Attending Surgeon in the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He currently serves as Program Director for the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship. Dr. Leitao is also the Director for the Minimal Access and Robotic Surgery Program in the Department of Surgery for MSKCC. Dr. Andreas Obermair is an active gynaecological oncologist in public and private practice and a Professor of Gynaecological Oncology at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He leads the Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Cancer Research to achieve less invasive and more effective treatments for gynaecological cancer.

Highlights:

1. The new FIGO (staging) system is no longer a staging system to determine the extent of endometrial cancer
2. Histology and other prognostic factors should not be part of a staging system
3. We need much more investigation and validation before we can apply a molecular classification to the care of our patients and then it should not be part of a staging system
4. An international staging system is likely best if kept reproducible, and if it can be applied worldwide
5. There is poor correlation now with this new system and the AJCC TNM system