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Who gets cancer of the uterus and what causes it?

We don’t know exactly what causes it, but evidence shows that the more your body is exposed to the female hormone oestrogen, the more likely you are to get cancer of the uterus. Oestrogen is one of the hormones that controls the monthly menstrual cycle.

Cancer of the uterus mainly affects women near or after the menopause (change of life).

We don’t know exactly what causes it, but evidence shows that the more your body is exposed to the female hormone oestrogen, the more likely you are to get cancer of the uterus. Oestrogen is one of the hormones that controls the monthly menstrual cycle.

You may be more at risk if, for example:

  • you have never had children: this is because oestrogen levels fall during pregnancy

     
  • you are very overweight: the more body fat you have, the more oestrogen you produce

     
  • your periods started early in life, or you had a late menopause.

You also have an increased risk if you have a family history of bowel, breast, ovarian or uterine cancer. There is a family link in around one in 20 cases. You may be able to have genetic testing to see if you are at risk.

Women who are taking Tamoxifen as treatment for breast cancer have a slightly increased risk of developing cancer of the uterus. However, the small risk needs to be weighed against the benefits Tamoxifen can have in helping to stop the breast cancer coming back.


 

 

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