Scroll Up
Scroll Down
Play Play Play Play
Unregistered User
Click here if this is not your Personal Edition
 
Contact Us | Free E-Mail Updates | Journals | Register a colleague
 
 
Oncology Other
 
   
 
SEARCH   
Doctor's Guide Free CME
Medline
Congress Resource Centre
 

 EXPLORE :
   Most Read News
 All News  All News
 All Webcasts / CME  All Webcasts / CME
 All Cases  All Cases
 Congress Resource Centre  Congress Resource Centre
 All Medical Resources  All Medical Resources
 Medical  My Personal Edition



Warning | Privacy

 

 
 Recent news - Oncology Other
    Cancer Incidence and Mortality After Treatment With Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 - (JAMA)
    Treatment With Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 Associated With Increased Risk of Cancer, Death - (DGNews)
    Glans Resurfacing With Split-Thickness Skin Graft Helps Manage Benign and Malignant Conditions: Presented at ESSM - (DGDispatch)
    HDL Cholesterol Inversely Associated With Cancer Risk: Presented at AHA - (DGDispatch)
    Community Practice Study Confirms Association Between ESAs, Venous Thromboembolism - (DGNews)

    News archive

     Recent webcasts/CME - Oncology Other
      Non-AIDS-Defining Cancers in Patients with HIV Infection
      Carcinoid Tumors of the Gastrointestinal Tract
      Cancer, Liver, Infections, Cardiovascular Disease, and other Biologic Agents
      Multidisciplinary Approach to Management of Neuroendocrine Tumors
      Cancer and Venous Thromboembolism: Current Clinical Issues

      Webcasts/CME archive

       Recent cases - Oncology Other
        Jejuno-Jejunal Invagination Caused by Epithelioid Sarcoma: A Case Report
        Thoracic Spinal Cord Compression Caused by Metastatic Pheochromocytoma
        Osseous Hemangioma of the Seventh Cervical Vertebra with Osteoid Formation Mimicking Metastasis: A Case Report
        Hypercalcemia in a Patient with Cholangiocarcinoma: A Case Report
        Difficult Diagnosis of Brainstem Glioblastoma Multiforme in a Woman: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

        Cases archive
          




        my personal edition > oncology other > news
        divider

          E-Mail this DGNews to a colleague

        DGNews


        Survival Rates Improving for Cancer of the Womb But Its Incidence Climbs in the Over 60s

        LONDON, UK -- February 6, 2006 -- Five-year survival rates for womb cancer* have risen to 77%, an improvement of 16% in the last 30 years.

        But its incidence among women aged 60-79 has risen by 30% in less than a decade – according to a report published today by Cancer Research UK**. The increasing numbers of women being diagnosed shows a need for greater awareness of the disease, its symptoms and the risk factors.

        Cancer of the womb affects around 6,000 women in the UK each year -- twice as many as cervical cancer -- and accounts for four% of all female cancers. It is the fifth most common cancer in women and is the second most common cancer of the female reproductive system, after ovarian cancer.

        Although survival is improving and around three-quarters of women diagnosed with womb cancer are successfully treated, the disease still causes around 1,500 deaths a year. Five-year survival rates are as low as 25% for women who present with advanced disease, and therefore early detection is crucial.

        Over 90% of womb cancers occur in women over the age of 50 and 75% in women who have been through the menopause. In the 60-79 age group, incidence of womb cancer has climbed from 48 cases per 100,000 in 1993 to 63 in 2001. Awareness of the disease is low and consequently women may not be aware that vaginal bleeding after the menopause is a symptom of womb cancer.

        The standard treatment for womb cancer is surgery in the form of a hysterectomy. For women with early stage disease, no further treatment is usually necessary, but women with more advanced disease also need radiotherapy.

        Report author Lucy Boyd, a Cancer Research UK epidemiologist, said: "It's encouraging to see that the incidence of womb cancer in the UK is among the lowest in Europe, but the rise in cases in older women is a concern.

        "We feel it is vitally important to raise awareness of this disease and encourage women to look out for the early symptoms, which can include abnormal vaginal bleeding or discharge, bleeding after the menopause and less commonly, low pelvic pain. Survival rates would be even better if more women reported their symptoms to their doctor at an earlier stage."

        It is unclear exactly what causes womb cancer, but there are some things that are known to increase a woman's risk. Overweight and obese women are twice as likely to develop womb cancer as women of a healthy weight. This is due to higher than normal exposure to the hormone oestrogen, the production of which is greater in overweight and obese women.

        Other factors that increase risk include not having had children, late menopause and the drug tamoxifen, which is used to treat and prevent breast cancer.

        Dr. Lesley Walker, Director of Cancer Information at Cancer Research UK, said:
        "The improved survival rates are a result of the advances that have been made in successfully treating this disease. However, it is also clear that even more lives would be saved if awareness of this disease were better.

        "Cancer Research UK will strive to make more women aware of the symptoms and risk factors associated with womb cancer, and the options available to help women reduce their risk of the disease. Womb cancer in particular has the strongest links to obesity -- a woman with a healthy bodyweight has half the risk an obese woman has of getting the disease," Dr. Walker said.

        *The report focuses on tumours of the body of the uterus (corpus uteri). Womb cancer can be called by many different names. Doctors often call it uterine cancer because the uterus is the medical name for the womb. The endometrium is the lining of the womb and womb cancer is also known as endometrial cancer.

        **Corpus uteri cancer UK – the full report is available from the press office.


        SOURCE: Cancer Research UK



        E-Mail this DGNews to a colleague   To print, use this version






        All contents Copyright (c) 1995-2009 Doctor's Guide Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.



        The NTK initiative. Physicians helping physicians identify Need-To-Know science
           Feedback
        Please rate this article: Strongly DISAGREE...Strongly AGREE NTK logo
        Question 1 - Physicians need to become aware of this information as soon as possible. Question 2 - This information is likely to have an impact on the way physicians practice medicine.
        1
        2
        3
        4
        5
        6
        7
        Send