Womb cancer
Womb cancer affects more than 6,500 women each year in the UK. Because this kind of cancer tends to cause symptoms early on, it is often detected quickly. This means that treatment is more likely to be successful.
Most women who get womb cancer have been through the menopause. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of womb cancer - one in three cases in the UK are linked with this risk factor. A family history of bowel, stomach and ovarian cancer is also linked with an increased risk of womb cancer.
Women who have had children are less likely to get womb cancer than women who have not. Taking the contraceptive pill for a number of years also reduces the risk of getting womb cancer.
Cancer Research UK is funding research to find new ways of preventing and treating womb cancer. For example, we are currently funding a clinical trial that aims to find out if fitting women at high risk with a hormone-releasing coil could prevent them from getting the disease.
Increase text
Decrease text
Print this page