Being overweight triples your risk of womb cancer
- Fatty tissue produces the hormone oestrogen, which regulates a woman’s reproduction and is linked to the cancer when levels in the body are excessive
- Obesity increases a woman’s chance of the disease by a massive six times
- Other risk factors are diabetes, being postmenopause and not having children
- Women should look out for abnormal vaginal bleeding, as well as pain during sex
- If detected early, a sufferer’s survival chances beyond one year are 95 per cent
Alexandra Thompson Health Reporter For Mailonline
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The effects of womb cancer can be devastating, particularly for young women.
Standard treatment involves removing the womb, leaving sufferers unable to become pregnant.
Yet, simply maintaining a healthy weight could go a long way in cutting a woman’s risk of developing the disease.
Being overweight triples a woman’s risk of getting the cancer, while obesity raises the risk by six times.
The hormone oestrogeon regulates women’s reproductive systems, with high levels being linked to womb cancer.
Fatty tissue produces oestrogeon, raising the hormone’s levels in the body.
Womb cancer is the fourth most common form of the disease among women in the UK. It affects around 9,000 new sufferers every year.
Being overweight triples womb cancer’s risk, while obesity raises the risk by a huge six times
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What are the symptoms?
Womb cancer’s most common symptom is abnormal vaginal bleeding.
This should be easier to spot in women who have gone through the menopause and no longer have monthly periods.
Premenopausal women should look out for heavy bleeding and bleeding between periods.
Other symptoms include pain in the lower abdomen and during sex.
If the cancer is advanced it may cause nausea, tiredness, reduced appetite and pain in the back, legs or pelvis.
Fatty tissue produces oestrogen, with high levels of the hormone being linked to the disease
How is it treated?
Treatment usually involves removing the womb, along with the ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Premenopausal women will then be unable to become pregnant.
Treatment via hormone therapy may be considered in younger women in rare circumstances.
Radiotherapy or chemotherapy may be necessary to kill any remaining cells depending on the cancer’s severity.
What is the prognosis?
Generally 90 per cent of sufferers survive for at least one year after their diagnosis.
More than 75 per cent will survive beyond 10 years.
Outcomes largely depend on how large the cancer is and whether it has spread.
Younger women typically have a better outlook than older sufferers.
Professor Jane Maher, joint chief medical officer, Macmillan Cancer Support, said: ‘Survival rates are relatively good if it is diagnosed early enough.
‘It’s important to discuss all options with your doctor and particularly find out as much information as possible about the side effects of treatment.’
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