Objective  To probe for factors that can be used effectively to predict the prognostic survival of patients with endometrial cancer recurrence.

  Methods  The clinicopathological data of 473 patients with stage Ⅰ to Ⅲ endometrial cancer who underwent standard surgical treatment from October 2013 to May 2019 were retrospectively collected, and post-operative recurrence of the patients were followed up. Overall recurrence includes local recurrence and poor prognosis recurrence. The endpoint indicators of this study are the recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with overall recurrence, local recurrence, and poor prognosis recurrence (PPR). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to evaluate the OS and RFS of patients. Cox proportional-hazards model was used to identify factors affecting the prognostic survival of patients with endometrial cancer recurrence.

  Results  Among the 473 patients, 406 did not experience recurrence. A total of 67 patients, accounting for 14.2%, had recurrence. Among them, 27 had local recurrence, accounting for 5.7%, while 40 had poor prognosis recurrence, accounting for 8.5%. The median follow-up time of patients with recurrence was 38 months. The survival curve showed that the RFS and OS of the patients in the recurrence-free group remained unchanged, while the patients in the recurrence group, regardless of whether they had overall recurrence, local recurrence or PPR, experienced a decrease in RFS and OS(P<0.001). The overall 3-year OS rate of patients with recurrence was 44.8%, the median survival time was 29 months, and the median recurrence time was 17 months. The 3-year OS rate of patients in the recurrence-free group was 98.8%, and the median survival time was 40 months; the 3-year OS rate of patients with local recurrence was 59.3%, the median survival time was 27 months, and the median recurrence time was 15 months. The 3-year OS rate of patients with PPR was only 35.0%, the median survival time was 22 months, and the median recurrence time was 10 months. The results of multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that, for overall recurrence patients, FIGO stage Ⅲ (hazard ratio (HR)=3.432, P=0.005), increased expression of K-i67 (HR=1.015, P=0.025), and decreased expression of estrogen receptor (ER) (HR=0.985, P=0.005) are independent factors for the decline in RFS, FIGO stage Ⅲ (HR=4.918, P=0.005) and the decreased expression of progesterone receptor (PR) (HR=0.977, P=0.003) are independent factors for the decrease in OS. For patients with local recurrence, special pathological types (HR=2.545, P=0.049) and increased expression of Ki-67 (HR=1.024, P=0.033) are independent factors influencing the decrease in RFS, while decreased expression of PR (HR=0.973, P=0.009) is an independent risk factor for decreased OS. For patients with PPR, FIGO stage Ⅲ (HR=5.977, P=0.002) and decreased ER expression (HR=0.984, P=0.023) are independent risk factors for the decline in RFS, while FIGO stage Ⅲ (HR=10.098, P=0.001) is an independent factor influencing the decline of OS.

  Conclusion  FIGO stage Ⅲ, increased Ki-67 expression, and decreased ER expression can increase patients' risk of postoperative recurrence, and FIGO stage Ⅲ and decreased expression of PR can increase the risk of death in patients with recurrence.