Womb/Uterine/Endometrial cancers

The womb (also called uterus) sits at the top of a woman's vagina. It is the organ in women´s bodies where babies grow before they are born. Inside the womb, there is a lining called endometrium. This lining thickens every month in fertile women as a way of getting ready just in case a woman´s egg is fertilised by sperm, i.e., the woman becomes pregnant. If the woman does not get pregnant, the lining that has thickened will be shed out through the vagina in the monthly period, or menstruation. This whole process is controlled by female sex hormones called oestrogen and progesterone, which are produced in women´s ovaries. As with most cancers, we don´t know the exact cause of womb cancer but there are a number of risk factors that are known to increase a woman´s chance of developing the disease. Some of these have to do with age, being overweight, not having had children, family history and factors to do with women´s menstrual cycle. The most common type of cancer in the womb is called endometrial cancer because it starts in the lining called endometrium. However, there are various other types too and different types of treatments and you may want to find out more.

To help you find answers to some of your questions, we have linked to Maggie’s CancerLinks where you will be signposted to high quality information about Womb/Uterine/Endometrial cancers. The information on these websites is not written specifically for young people but it is written using simple language in a way that most people will be able to understand. Don’t worry if there are lots of links to different websites. Have a look on the description of the links and very often you will find the information you are searching for on the first website that you look at. If you just want general information about cancer you could read the ‘About cancer’ section on riprap.

Remember that the information on these sites is general. Within each cancer type, there are different variations, different stages, different treatments and people may also respond differently to the same treatments. Each person is an individual and because of this, generic information may not fit the situation you are thinking of. Often your parents or someone else who knows the details can answer your questions best. Also, please feel free to get in touch with us here at riprap. We can help you sorting through information or discuss things you’ve heard or read or anything at all that’s on your mind.

Don’t forget that there are lots of effective treatments for cancer these days and many cancers can be completely cured. There are also very good treatments to control cancers that cannot be cured and research is going on all the time to find new treatments that can control and cure cancers.

Page updated 13 July 2017