Uterine cancer, or endometrial cancer, is a cancer that develops in the lining of the uterus. There are several symptoms that may indicate that a cancer of the uterus has developed, and irregular bleeding is a really common one. This means bleeding in between periods for pre-menopausal women and unexpected bleeding for post-menopausal women.
There are also several conditions that may predispose someone to getting uterine cancer. “These patients might not be thinking about this, their primary care providers may not be speaking to them about this,” warns Dr. Diana English, a Gynecologic Oncologist at Stanford Medicine. Those conditions are:
- Hypertension
- Diabetes
- Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (which is marked by the absence of regular periods)
- Obesity
- Hyperandrogenism (elevated male sex hormones)
- Lynch Syndrome
