A retrospective study of Pipelle endometrial biopsy for ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancers
Although well established in the diagnosis of endometrial cancer, the value of endometrial biopsy for ovarian and fallopian tube cancer is not well understood. Much ovarian cancer starts in the fallopian tube, it has been suggested that endometrial biopsy could be a low-invasive means to obtain a tissue diagnosis.
This retrospective study reviewed biopsies obtained from 99 women who had endometrial biopsy as part of their workup for ovarian cancer. Findings from the review showed that the biopsy had a low specificity, with high false negative results for early-stage ovarian cancer but the sensitivity for a positive test was acceptable at 44% for late-stage disease.
The tissue type found at biopsy was confirmed in the resected ovarian cancer specimen in 74% of cases.
A negative result therefore does not exclude ovarian cancer especially early-stage disease. However, as a minimally invasive test endometrial biopsy has the potential to speed access to personalised therapy.It is unlikely due to cost and resource issues that endometrial biopsy will become part of standard care for ovarian cancer.
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