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Uterine cancer is cancer detected in the reproductive system of a woman. It starts when the cells that are healthy in the uterus change and grow out of control, giving rise to a tumor. This tumor may be cancerous or benign. The cancerous tumor is generally malignant, and it spreads to the other organs and parts of the body. A benign tumor does grow, but it does not spread to the other parts of the body.
Dr. Paolo Boffetta – A specialist in cancer epidemiology speaks
When it comes to uterine cancer, a woman must know about its causes and risks. Dr. Paolo Boffetta is a renowned expert in the field of cancer epidemiology in the USA and is known for his research and observations of all types of cancer. He is now the Director of the Institute for Translational Epidemiology and Associate Director for Population Sciences of The Tisch Cancer Institute. He also serves as the Bluhdorn Professor of International Community Medicine and the Adjunct Professor at the Department of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University at Nashville in Tennessee, and the Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health at Boston in Massachusetts.
Dr. Bofetta joined the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 2010 and, in the past, has been associated with the American Cancer Society in New York, the International Agency for Research on Cancer at Lyon in France, and the German Cancer Research Center at Heidelberg. He is from Turin in Italy and now lives in New York, USA.
Three key causes of uterine cancer every woman must know about
When it comes to the subject of uterine cancer, he says women must be aware of its risks and causes so that precautions can be taken at the right time. The following are the prime causes of uterine cancer-
1. Age- This type of cancer is detected in women over 50 years of age. Sixty years is the average age, where uterine cancer is detected in women. However, it is not commonly found in women younger than 45 years old.
2. Obesity- Women with excess fatty tissue are prone to developing uterine cancer. Overweight women produce extra estrogen. This is a sex hormone that increases the risks of cancer in the uterus. When the body mass index of the woman increases, the risks for uterine cancer also rises. In fact, about 70% of uterine cancer cases have been linked to female obesity, mostly.
3. Diabetes- This point is linked to the above. Those women suffering from diabetes have an increased risk of uterine cancer.
According to Dr. Paolo Boffetta there are some cases where uterine cancer may occur in women with a history of colon cancer in their families. Those women with families that have been afflicted with the Lynch Syndrome (a genetic non-polyposis colorectal kind of cancer) have higher risks of uterine cancer. He recommends that women under 60 years suffering from endometrial cancer should consult a doctor to get their tumor tested for Lynch Syndrome irrespective of the fact as to whether their families have a history of colon cancer or any other cancer or not.
