| Uterine Cancer |
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Uterine
cancer -- also called sarcoma of the uterus -- is a very rare kind of cancer in women. It
is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells start growing in the muscles or other
supporting tissues of the uterus. Cancer of the uterus is different from cancer of the
endometrium, a disease in which cancer cells start growing in the lining of the uterus.
You should see your doctor if you have bleeding after menopause (the time when you no
longer have menstrual periods) or bleeding that is not part of your menstrual cycle. |
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Cancer of the uterus usually occurs after menopause. Currently, there has been little
insight into the exact causes for uterine cancer. However, 10-25 percent of malignancies
occur in women who received pelvic radiation five to 25 years earlier for benign bleeding.
As in other cancers of its type, risk factors for uterine cancer include diabetes,
hypertension, obesity, and improper estrogen levels.
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Surgery is the most common treatment for cancer of the uterus. Your doctor may
take out the cancer in an operation to remove the uterus, fallopian tubes and the ovaries,
along with some lymph nodes in the pelvis and around the aorta (the main vessel in which
blood passes away from the heart). The operation is called a total abdominal hysterectomy,
bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and lymphadenectomy. |
The lymph nodes are small
bean-shaped structures that are found throughout the body that produce and store
infection-fighting cells, but may contain cancer cells.
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