Womb cancer increase causes concern

Survival rates for womb cancer are increasing, according to a report, but there are concerns that the disease is increasing among the over-60s.

Cancer Research UK reported that five-year survival rates for womb cancer have risen to 77% - an improvement of 16% in the past 30 years.

However, the report found that the incidence of the disease in women aged between 60 to 79 has risen by 30% in less than a decade.

The charity said that greater awareness of the disease, its symptoms and risk factors was needed.

Cancer of the womb - which is also known as uterine cancer - affects around 6,000 women in the UK each year. This nearly twice as many people as cervical cancer and accounts for 4% of all female cancers.

Cancer Research UK said that early detection is crucial, as five-year survival rates for women with the advanced stage of the disease are as low as 25%.

Over 90% of womb cancers occur in women over the age of 50, while 75% occur in women who have been through the menopause.

Awareness of the disease is low, so many women may be unaware that vaginal bleeding after the menopause is a symptom of womb cancer, along with low pelvic pain.

It is not known what causes womb cancer, but there are a number of factors, which are known to increase the risk. This includes being overweight or obese, not having had children, late menopause or use of the drug tamoxifen, which is used to treat and prevent breast cancer.

The standard treatment for womb cancer is surgery in the form of a hysterectomy. Women in the early stages of the disease usually do not need any other treatment, although 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."

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."

(KMcA)