Uterine cancer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
All cancer begins in cells, cells make up tissues, and tissues make up all organs of the body. Uterine cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive system. The uterus is the female reproductive organ in which a baby grows if a woman becomes pregnant. The uterus consists of three main parts, the cervix is the lower portion of the uterus, the broad middle part is the corpus or body, and the dome-shaped top of the uterus is the fundus. When a woman develops uterine cancer, a tumor is formed on her uterus of abnormal or old cells and can either be benign or malignant.
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[edit] Types
There are two different types of uterine cancer; the most common form begins in the lining of the uterus, also known as the endometrium. This form of uterine cancer can also be called endometrial cancer, or cancer of the uterus. The other, less common form of uterine cancer, is uterine sarcoma, and this is when the cancer develops in the outer layer of muscle tissue, myometrium, of the uterus.
[edit] Risk Factors
The ovaries in a woman’s reproductive system produce estrogen and progesterone. The balances of these two hormones changes monthly making the endometrium thicken in case of pregnancy or shed if no pregnancy occurs. When these hormones shift towards more estrogen, stimulating the growth of the endometrium, the risk for uterine cancer increases. Uterine cancer has several internal causes usually due to the presence of extra estrogen.
Women who experience more years of menstruation are at a higher risk of uterine cancer. If menstruation begins before the age of 12 years old and continues into a woman’s 50’s the risk is higher, because the more years of menstruation a woman experiences the more years the endometrium is exposed to estrogen.
Women who have never experienced pregnancy are at a higher risk, because the body produces more progesterone during pregnancy protecting the endometrium by lowering estrogen levels. Women who have never been pregnant do not receive the benefit of this protection.
Women who do not experience regular cycles are at an increased risk of uterine cancer. Ovulation is regulated by estrogen. Irregular ovulation or failure to ovulate increases a woman’s lifetime exposure to estrogen.
Women with Type 2 diabetes or women who are obese are at more risk. These two factors generally go hand in hand, because many people with Type 2 diabetes are obese. Although alone they are each risk factors, obese women with Type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk, because fat tissues sometimes change hormones into estrogen resulting in an increased level of estrogen. Fatty foods can also directly affect estrogen metabolism increasing risk.
Women who participate in Estrogen-only Replacement Therapy (ERT) (a form of Hormone Replacement Therapy) are at a higher risk because ERT stimulates the growth of the endometrium, placing estrogen alone after menopause.
Uterine cancer is more prevalent in older women, because it takes several years to develop. 95% of women with uterine cancer are over the age of 40. White women are more likely to develop uterine cancer, but African American women are more like to die from it.
[edit] Screening
There are no useful screening tests and/or pelvic exams that detect uterine cancer. The disease is most often diagnosed because a woman shows symptoms of the disease. Signs and symptoms of endometrial cancer include abnormal bleeding, spotting, or other discharges from the vagina. Women who have gone through menopause are especially encouraged to consult a physician if abnormal bleeding, spotting, or discharges occur.
[edit] Symptoms
Approximately 90% of women diagnosed with uterine cancer have unusual bleeding vaginal bleeding or bleeding after menopause. Most cases of uterine cancer develop in women who have gone through menopause and whose periods have stopped. However, there is a small percentage of cases of women under the age of forty with uterine cancer. Although irregular bleeding may show up in other illnesses such as hyperplasia or other non-cancerous conditions, contact a physician if any irregular bleeding may occur. At first, the bleeding may appear watery, but over time the discharge may contain more and more blood.
Vaginal discharge which doesn’t contain blood may also be a sign of uterine cancer. Just because a woman can’t see the blood in the discharge itself, does not mean that the cancer is not present. In approximately 10% of diagnosed cases, the non-bloody discharge experienced by the patients proved to be cancerous. In any case, any abnormal vaginal discharge should result in the consulting of a physician. Sometimes, uterine cancers may progress into advanced stages before any signs or symptoms are shown.
Additional signs of uterine cancer include pelvic pain and/or weight loss. Although these symptoms do occur, they are usually develop in the later stages of the disease. Medical help should be sought after immediately so that the disease is not allowed to progress any further. The delaying of medical help only decreases the chance of treating the disease successfully.
If a woman has any of the aforementioned symptoms then she is encouraged to see a physician who can then come to a decision as to whether or not cancer is present. The physician will ask for a list of symptoms and her medical family history. If the cancer is there, a woman should then be instructed to visit a gynecologist. Early diagnosis is very important when it comes to cancer of the uterus.
[edit] Treatment
There are many different treatments for cancer. Uterine cancer, however, is treated most commonly with a smaller sampling of the possible treatments available for cancer patients. After a diagnosis is received, patients usually begin one or two different forms of therapy. The variety, aggressiveness, and overall length of time in treatment depends entirely on the stage and severity of the cancer and the patient (age, health, plans for the future, etc.). The most common treatments for uterine cancer are surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy. Surgery involves having a hysterectomy. Having a simple hysterectomy (removal of the entire uterus) or radical hysterectomy (removal of the uterus, surrounding tissues, and cervix) depends on the case. The option of radiation therapy involves using high-energy radiation to destroy the cancer cells. The procedure is done outside of the body and is not unlike having an X-ray for a broken limb. Chemotherapy involves taking a series of drugs (either by mouth or through a vein) to kill the cancer cells. Chemotherapy is most often used when the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. Hormone therapy is mainly used to treat patients with endometrial stromal sarcomas (A rare sarcoma in which the lesions form multiple foci in the myometrium and in vascular spaces in other sites and the tissue and cells resemble endometrial stroma cells). A progesterone-like hormone drug or a drug which stops the production of estrogen can be used. Hormone therapy, however, is not often used and is still being tested.
[edit] Prognosis
The American Cancer Society estimates that 41,200 women will be diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2006, and of those 7,350 will die. About 70% of all women diagnosed are between the ages of 45-74. A woman’s chance of developing this cancer through out her life time is about 1 in 38. 500,000 women have been diagnosed and survived this cancer. This cancer is 40% more prominently found in white women, however an African American women who is diagnosed with uterine cancer is twice as likely to die. Doctors say that on average the five-year survival rate is at 84%, and this percentage increases if the cancer is detected in early stages.
[edit] Prevention
Generally, uterine cancer is a result of internal factors that cannot be prevented, however, a couple factors may help lower the risk of developing uterine cancer such as: taking hormone therapy with progestin, a history of using birth control pills to regulate cycles, and maintaining a healthy weight.
