After breast cancer, endometrial cancer is the most common gynecological cancer.
- “Turquoise September” is an awareness campaign that will be launched in September 2024 to raise awareness about endometrial cancer.
- Little known, it kills around 2,500 women each year in France. However, if detected in time, it is one of the most curable cancers.
- It can only be suspected when symptoms appear, the first being the presence of genital bleeding, even minimal, after menopause, or outside of menstrual periods, before menopause.
“The endometrium is a turquoise orange”, proclaims the new campaign of the National College of French Gynecologists and Obstetricians, the Society of Gynecological and Pelvic Surgery, the French Society of Onco-Gynecology, the French Society of Oncological Surgery and the Women’s Health Fund. The collective is preparing an awareness month for endometrial cancer at the start of the school year, “Turquoise September”, to talk about this cancer that kills 2,500 women each year in France. However, when it is detected quickly, it is one of the cancers that is most curable.
Genital bleeding should alert you!
Endometrial cancer, also called cancer of the body of the uterus, can only be suspected when symptoms appear because, unlike cervical cancer, there is no screening program in France.The main one being the presence of genital bleeding, even minimal, after menopause, or outside of menstrual periods, before menopause, says Professor Vincent Lavoué, head of the gynecology department at Rennes University Hospital. This should lead to a rapid consultation with a gynecologist for examinations.”
However, this symptom is only characteristic of the early phase of the disease and when endometrial cancer progresses, other signs may appear such as:
- lower abdominal pain;
- significant fatigue;
- weight loss.
Cancer of the uterine body: what are the risk factors?
“Remember that most endometrial cancers need estrogen to grow. In their absence, they stop growing or progress more slowly, detail the specialists in the press release sent to the editorial offices. Therefore, with few exceptions, the factors that increase the risk of developing endometrial cancer are related to estrogen.”
Thus, the main risk factors are:
– Aging, overweight and obesity: “The risk increases with age and body mass index (BMI). Among the twenty most common types of tumors, breast cancer
The endometrium has the strongest link with obesity: every 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI
being associated with a 54% increase in cancer risk”.
– The genes : “Women with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer, also called Lynch syndrome, have a higher risk”.
– Diabetes.
– Hypertension.
– Absence of pregnancy.
– Family history of endometrial cancer: “have a first-degree relative
(mother, sister or daughter), having had endometrial cancer”.
– Having had breast or ovarian cancer: “in women who have had breast cancer, the
risk is higher if they have been treated with tamoxifen, an antiestrogen. It has an effect
stimulant on the endometrium and may promote the development or growth of cancer. However, its benefits remain greater than the risk of developing cancer”.
– Certain gynecological diseases such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, a
endometrial hyperplasia (proliferation of endometrial cells).
– Exposure to estrogens, “in association or not with an insufficient rate of
progesterone”.