Ultrasonographic screening for endometrial cancer has good sensitivity in postmenopausal women, according to a case-control study in the Lancet Oncology.

U.K. researchers examined data on endometrial thickness among women undergoing transvaginal ultrasounds as part of a study on ovarian cancer screening. Their analysis included nearly 140 women diagnosed with endometrial cancer or atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH) within a year after ultrasound and roughly 37,000 controls.

Overall, an endometrial thickness of 5.15 mm had a sensitivity of 80.5% and specificity of 86.2% for endometrial cancer or AEH.

Commentators say the study offers “important ultrasonographic endometrial findings in asymptomatic postmenopausal women,” but they warn that such screening “has not been sufficiently proven to be beneficial” for several reasons, including “the high cost, the prevalence of cancers that are not clinically relevant or hyperplasia, [and] the number of unnecessary surgical interventions.”