Uterine Cancer: NWHIC

UTERINE CANCER

What are the signs of uterine cancer?
What factors put me at risk for uterine cancer?
What is the most common treatment for uterine cancer?

See also...

• Cancer

What are the signs of uterine cancer?

Uterine cancer -- also called sarcoma of the uterus -- is a very rare kind of cancer in women. It is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells start growing in the muscles or other supporting tissues of the uterus. Cancer of the uterus is different from cancer of the endometrium, a disease in which cancer cells start growing in the lining of the uterus. You should see your doctor if you have bleeding after menopause (the time when you no longer have menstrual periods) or bleeding that is not part of your menstrual cycle. Cancer of the uterus usually occurs after menopause.

What factors put me at risk for uterine cancer?

Currently, there has been little insight into the exact causes for uterine cancer. However, 10-25 percent of malignancies occur in women who received pelvic radiation five to 25 years earlier for benign bleeding. As in other cancers of its type, risk factors for uterine cancer include diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and improper estrogen levels..

What is the most common treatment for uterine cancer?

Surgery is the most common treatment for cancer of the uterus. Your doctor may take out the cancer in an operation to remove the uterus, fallopian tubes and the ovaries, along with some lymph nodes in the pelvis and around the aorta (the main vessel in which blood passes away from the heart). The operation is called a total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and lymphadenectomy. The lymph nodes are small bean-shaped structures that are found throughout the body that produce and store infection-fighting cells, but may contain cancer cells.

For more information...

You can find out more about cancer in women by contacting the following organizations:

National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service, 1-800-422-6237

American Cancer Society

This information was abstracted from fact sheets developed by the National Cancer Institute.

All material contained in the FAQs is free of copyright restrictions, and may be copied, reproduced, or duplicated without permission of the Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services; citation of the sources is appreciated.

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Publication date: 1998