Endometrial Cancer is on the Rise: What You Need to Know

Cancer: it’s the word that no one wants to hear when visiting the doctor for a clean bill of health. It’s one of the few words that can turn your whole life upside down and make you worry that things are just not going to end the way you would like. It’s a word that can bring fear along with many months of hard work. Endometrial cancer is one of the types that can turn your life upside down and is on the rise in America. Researchers have spent some time looking at the cancer registry between 2000 and 2011. In these studies, the rates of endometrial cancer have increased for everyone throughout the country. But there are some individuals who are at a higher risk of developing endometrial cancer. It was found that while white women developed this kind of cancer at an increase lower than one percent, Hispanic women saw an increase of 1.8 percent, and Asian and black women saw the increase of 2.5 percent. Not only is there an increase in this kind of cancer for a lot of women, but the survival odds are lower for black women. When compared to their white counterparts, black women had a six percent less chance of surviving the low grade tumors after a five year period and they were 59 percent less likely for survival for the more aggressive forms of endometrial cancer. The reason that black and Asian women have these higher issues with the cancer are unclear. Most researchers have no idea why some women would develop this more than others. Some believe that the tumors are increasing because of the higher rates of obesity in this country. The excess fat is able to produce some of the hormones, such as estrogen and insulin that are known to help the cells of cancer grow. The best way to prevent against the issues with endometrial cancer is to visit a specialist early. While this study was not able to get at the health care facts of the individuals, many of the researchers believe the differences in survival rates is linked to the quality of health care these women received. If you find out that you have this kind of cancer, you should speak with your doctor and find out the best care possible. Doing this will help increase your odds of living a healthy life more than anything else.