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• Posted August 2, 2024

Many Women Don't Know This Warning Sign of Endometrial Cancer

Too many women don’t know a key warning sign of endometrial cancer, the most common cancer of the female reproductive organs, a new study shows.

More than one-third (37%) of women surveyed did not know that postmenopausal bleeding is a key symptom of endometrial cancer, researchers said.

Worse, 41% said they wouldn’t tell their doctor about postmenopausal bleeding if they’d only had one episode. This could be because doctors aren’t properly counseling women, the results showed.

Fewer than half of the women surveyed reported that their health care professional had counseled them about postmenopausal bleeding.

“There is a need for increased recognition of postmenopausal bleeding and provider counseling on postmenopausal bleeding, and educational interventions should focus on public and provider awareness of endometrial cancer risks and symptoms,” concluded the research team led by Dr. Meredith Wise, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology with the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Endometrial cancer occurs when cells in the inner lining of the uterus -- the endometrium -- start to grow out of control, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

About 67,880 new cases of uterine cancer will be diagnosed this year, the ACS estimates, and 13,250 women will die from uterine cancer.

There’s been a more than 2% annual increase in uterine cancer cases in the United States, partially due to increasing obesity rates among Americans, researchers said. Death rates also increased by more than 1% a year between 1999 and 2016.

There’s no screening test for endometrial cancer, but the disease is frequently caught at an early stage because it has detectable symptoms like abnormal and postmenopausal bleeding, researchers said. 

When diagnosed at an early stage, endometrial cancer has a five-year survival rate of nearly 95%, researchers said. Meanwhile, the rate among advanced cases where the cancer has spread is less than 19%.

The study involved 648 women surveyed at the Minnesota State Fair in September 2021. Of them, 145 had gone through menopause, researchers said.

"This survey study highlights opportunities for improved patient counseling about abnormal and postmenopausal uterine bleeding as an early warning sign of uterine cancer. This is especially important given that the incidence and mortality rates of uterine cancer continue to increase and are notably highest in women of color," Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society, said in a society news release.

The new study was published July 30 in the journal Menopause.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more about endometrial cancer.

SOURCE: The Menopause Society, news release, July 31, 2024