Funding outcome

Endometrial cancer (cancer in the uterus) is the most common cancer of the reproductive organs in women, and by 2024 is predicted to be the 3rd most common cancer in women. Endometrial cancer also has the strongest link to obesity of all other cancers. Women with obesity and endometrial cancer have worse outcomes than those without obesity. However, we do not fully understand why obesity has this effect. DNA methylation is a way that genes are turned on and off. In the uterus, we think that obesity may change DNA methylation, and this may contribute to an increased risk of endometrial cancer. Also, obesity may change how tumors start and are allowed to grow (immune microenviornment). We propose a study to look at the patterns of how genes are turned on and off (DNA methylation) in endometrial cancer from women with and without obesity and how obesity affects the starting and growing of tumors in cancer of the uterus. In this study we also will assess if pre-operative weight loss can at all change these patterns. If differences are seen between samples from women who are obese and non-obese, we can then focus on these differences in further larger studies to confirm. Additionally, these results will also shed light on if these changes can be reversed with weight loss interventions. This knowledge may have significant impact on prevention, screening (early detection) and treatment of patients with obesity-associated endometrial cancer.