House Call: 5 facts about endometrial cancer

If you're a woman — especially if you're older than 45 — it pays to know a few key facts about endometrial cancer, the most common cancer of the female reproductive organs.

If this year is typical, about 58,000 women in the U.S. — most of them postmenopausal and in their 60s — will learn they have endometrial cancer. Here are five top things to know about the disease.

It develops in the lining of the uterus — the endometrium.

This cancer occurs when cells in the endometrium start growing too rapidly. As a result, the endometrium can thicken in certain places and eventually form a tumor.

Age isn't the only thing that raises your risk.

Extra pounds also add to your chances of getting the disease. For example, if you're overweight or obese, you're 3½ times more likely to develop endometrial cancer than women at a healthy weight.

You're also more prone to endometrial cancer if you:

• Still have a uterus and use estrogen-only hormone therapy to treat menopause symptoms.
• Use the medicine tamoxifen to treat or prevent breast cancer.
• Have polycystic ovary syndrome.

Most women have early signs or symptoms. 

The most common sign — by far — is abnormal vaginal bleeding. About 90 percent of women with endometrial cancer experience it.

If you're premenopausal, this bleeding includes periods that are heavier or longer than usual, bleeding between periods, or spotting. If you're past menopause, any bleeding is abnormal.

Be sure to tell your doctor right away about any abnormal bleeding, especially if you're postmenopausal. Sometimes a thin white or clear vaginal discharge after menopause is also a symptom. So watch for this too.

Most women with endometrial cancer will have a good outcome. 

Treatment — typically surgery and possibly chemotherapy or radiation therapy—is very effective, especially when the disease is found early. That's why it's crucial go get any abnormal bleeding checked out.

You can lower your risk. 

Do your best to get to, and stay at, a healthy weight. And move more. Research suggests that the more active you are, the lower your chance of getting this cancer. Finally, if you still have a uterus and are considering hormone therapy after menopause, discuss the pros and cons with your doctor. And if you opt to use hormone therapy, be sure that it includes progesterone.

An annual well-woman exam is one of the most important steps that women of all ages can take to protect their health, and is just as important after childbearing years. For more information, visit shannonhealth.com or contact the Shannon OB/GYN department at 325-481-2285.

Dr. Gregory Dunham is an OB/GYN at Shannon Clinic.