UK Uterine (Womb) Cancer mortality statistics

Corpus uteri cancer (uterine or womb cancer) includes tumours of the body of the uterus and uterine tumours, parts unspecified. There were around 1,660 deaths from corpus uteri cancer in the UK in 2007, accounting for only 2.2% of all cancer deaths in UK females 1,2,3. Uterine cancers, parts unspecified made up around 30% of these deaths ( Table 2.11,2,3). It is likely that these tumours are advanced at diagnosis, which may explain why the precise site of their origin is unspecified.

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Mortality rates increase lineally with age peaking at around 35 per 100,000 among women aged 85 and over ( Figure 2.14).There are very few deaths under the age of 50.

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There were about 50,300 deaths from corpus uteri cancer worldwide in 2002, showing far less variation than with incidence. This reflects the lower incidence rates, but poorer survival, in less developed countries. The highest mortality rates were in Eastern Europe, while the lowest rates are found in Eastern Asia, Central and Western Africa ( Figure 2.2).

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Within the European Union the highest death rates are in Cyprus and the Eastern European countries, while the lowest rates are in Greece and Ireland ( Figure 2.3).

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The mortality rate from corpus uteri cancer for UK women fell by 27% between 1971-2007. There was a 33% decline in the rate of deaths coded as body of uterus while the death rate for cancer of the uterus, unspecified parts remained fairly stable over the same period ( Figure 2.41,2,3).

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Declines in the age-standardised mortality rate masks a rising trend in women aged over 85, among whom the mortality rate rose by 60% 1971-1986, then declined until the late 1990s. Despite the decline since 1986, mortality rates in the over 85's remain elevated with an increase of 25% from 1971-2007. The fastest declines in the mortality rate have been in women aged under 70 ( Figure 2.5).

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