Uterine cancer is one of the five main cancers that affect women’s reproductive organs or the gynecologic cancers. These gynecologic cancers affecting the uterine, vulva, cervical, ovarian, and the vagina. According to the CDC report of 2016, uterus cancer starts from the uterus or the womb. Over 95% of women diagnosed with uterus cancer are more likely to suffer from endometrium cancer whereas a small minority may suffer from sarcoma cancer (CDC, 2016). This general paper creates awareness of uterus cancer.
Overview of the Uterus
The endometrium is the inner layer in a woman’s reproductive organ. Every month of the ovaries releases an ovum in a process termed as ovulation. The ovum travels via the fallopian tube into the uterus and if the ovum is not fertilized the egg flows out through the vagina as menstruation. If the ovum is fertilized it grows in a baby in the uterus (CDC, 2016). Estrogen and progesterone hormones produced by the ovaries facilitate ovulation and menstruation respectively. However, the decrease of these hormones results in menopause or the period that a woman’s menstruation stops and the woman cannot bear children. The size of the uterus reduces with the endometrium becoming inactive and thinner. The significance of the endometrium increases the risks of endometrial cancer 95% with the uterine sarcoma being 4% of the uterine cancers (Stubert & Gerber, 2016).
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Types of Uterus Cancer
Endometrial cancers are grouped under two categories type 1 and type 2. There is no definite answer on the cause of uterus cancer but excess estrogen is linked to type 1 endometrial cancer. The slow process and limited spreading make it difficult to treat, as they do not require the intensive treatment. Type 2 cancers develop rapidly and are easier to detect (Obermair, 2016). The intensive treatments include chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Uterine sarcomas develop in the myometrium.
Symptoms
The rare incident of uterine sarcomas makes most studies focus on endometrial cancer. The symptoms of endometrial cancer are unusual vaginal bleeding even after menopause, excessive bleeding between periods, pelvic pains, and abnormal discharge from the vagina are the four main symptoms of endometrial cancer.
Risk Factors
As earlier indicated, doctors do not know the exact cause of uterine cancer but the risks factors discussed below increases the risks of endometrial cancer. Changes in the balance of the two hormones produced by the ovaries, estrogen, and progesterone, increases the risks of women. In most cases, the estrogen increases following a disease but the progesterone does not change thus creating an imbalance of the hormones. Obesity, diabetes and irregular ovulation increase the amount of estrogen (Stubert & Gerber, 2016). Infertility in women or women who have never been pregnant is at a higher risk of this type of cancer. The other major risk factor is the years the women have menstruated. Early start of menstruation and late menopause exposes the endometrium to estrogen and with the link between estrogen and endometrial cancer makes sense. The exposure to estrogen as a major cause of endometrial cancer makes more sense because age is another risk. As women reach menopause they become more venerable to develop endometrial cancer. Other likely risks may be exposure to breast cancer and inherited colon cancer syndrome.
Treatment
According to an Obermair (2016), women diagnosed with endometrial cancer have an 83% survival chances for at least 5 years (Obermair, 2016). The study depicted that slow treatment for endometrial cancer had 90% chance of prolonging the lives of the patients compared to the low success rates of intensive treatments. However, there is a high recurrence rate of uterine cancer in high-risk groups is about 70% with the recurrence dominated by vaginal pains or bleeding (Obermair, 2016).
Support
The recurrence rate may be high among the high-risk groups but if there is, follow up and emphases of low-intensive treatment for the first three years after diagnosis in the early stages, the recurrence rate is about 5% (Stubert & Gerber, 2016). When surgeries and other intensive treatments are used there are risks of hysterectomy that affects the sexual intimacy of the women. The removal of the uterus requires the use of other cancer treatment that diminishes the survival period of the patient.
References
CDC. (2016). Uterine Cancer. CDC Publication #99-9125 . Retrieved November 5, 2018, from https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/uterine/pdf/uterine_facts.pdf
Obermair, A. (2016). Uterine Cancer. Obermair.info . Retrieved November 5, 2018, from http://www.obermair.info/medical-conditions/gynaecological-cancer/uterine-cancer/
Stubert, J., & Gerber, B. (2016). Current Issues in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Endometrial Carcinoma. Geburtshilfe Und Frauenheilkunde , 76 (02), 170-175.
