How To Fight Cancer Of The Womb?
Before the word “cancer”, it is automatically thought that the only treatment that can be for it is chemotherapy. For this reason, many people wonder how else they could fight each of the types that exist, such as cancer of the womb.
Cancer is a disease characterized by the appearance of abnormal cells that undergo uncontrolled growth. The high proliferation of these cancer cells leads to the appearance of tumors.
One of the characteristics of cancer is that tumor cells are capable of dividing and colonizing other tissues, which is known as metastasis. However, the name of the different types of cancer is given according to the organ where the cancer originated. Thus, in the case of cancer of the womb, the affected organ is the uterus.
So, womb or endometrial cancer is one that develops when there are cancer cells in the uterus capable of dividing and invading adjacent tissues. That is, it is one that affects the lining layer that lines the uterus.
Womb cancer, one of the most affecting women
The experts of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) indicate that “uterine and endometrial tumor is the fourth most frequent cancer in the female population, after breast, bowel and lung cancer. Most are diagnosed in women between the ages of 50 and 70 ”.
In fact, it often manifests itself frequently in women who have already gone through menopause and are over 50 years old (it rarely occurs at younger ages), as well as in those who suffer from obesity. However, the cases are not limited to these two risk factors.
Associated risk factors
According to the experts of the Better without Cancer disclosure platform , other risk factors that are related to the appearance of womb cancer are the following:
- Suffering from obesity
- Suffer from diabetes
- Being hypertensive.
- Being sterile or having no children.
- Having the first menstruation at a very young age.
- Being over 50 years old and still having your period.
- Being or having been under hormonal treatments with high doses of estrogens or progesterone.
- Being or having been under treatment with tamoxifen, a drug widely used in chemotherapy for breast cancer, and which is proven to be a risk factor for the development of cancer of the womb.
- Hormone replacement therapies, which use high doses of synthetic estrogens, can promote the development of this cancer.
It should be noted that there are cases of women with cancer of the womb whose history did not fit into any of these risk factors. Therefore, it is not advisable to orient yourself by generalizations.
Symptoms of womb cancer
As the American Cancer Society states, the most common symptom of this cancer is abnormal vaginal bleeding. This can occur between periods (breakthrough bleeding), or after menopause (this is usually the most common case). It is also possible to experience pain in the pelvic area (even during sexual intercourse) and an unusual vaginal discharge.
It is vitally important to pay attention to these types of symptoms to go to the gynecologist as soon as possible. Do not forget that early detection increases the chances of successful treatment.
Possible Treatments to Fight Womb Cancer
There are different treatment options for women with womb cancer. Depending on the stage of the disease, some options or others will be evaluated. In addition, new treatment options are currently being researched and implemented.
Possible treatments include the following:
Surgery
Among the possible surgeries, the option of performing a total hysterectomy can be considered , in which the entire uterus and even other organs in the area are removed. This option is usually the one chosen in advanced cases, in which the cancer is widespread.
Other less aggressive options would involve removing only the tissue or the area where the cancer is found. Thus, the ovaries, cervix or uterus, for example, can be removed.
Radiotherapy
In this type of treatment , high-energy radiation is used to destroy cancer cells. External radiation therapy may be given, in which the radiation is emitted by a machine outside the body; or internal radiation therapy, which uses instruments that are placed in the affected area and beam radiation directly onto the cancer.
Chemotherapy
A wide variety of drugs are used in chemotherapy to destroy and prevent the growth of tumor cells. Systemic chemotherapy can be given, either by mouth or by injection, which reaches the entire body; or a regional chemotherapy, administered directly into a body cavity.
As we mentioned earlier, the success of womb cancer treatment will largely depend on the stage at which the condition was detected. In this way, the earlier it is detected, the more effective your treatment will be.
