According to a new study from Canada, depending on their age, women who are diagnosed with uterine cancer may have a higher risk of developing colon cancer in the future. As the survival has increased among cancer survivors, it becomes even more important to follow it up and learn what further risks it presents.
Cancer of the endometrium, which is the lining of the uterus, is actually the most common cancer that develops in the female reproductive tract. The American Cancer Society estimates that around 50,000 women will be diagnosed with the cancer in 2013 and about 8,000 will die from the condition. This makes it a very major concern.
The previous research which looked at women’s risk of colon cancer after they had suffered with endometrial cancer only managed to produce mixed results. Also, there has yet to be a study that looked at where in the colon those cancers showed, which can no doubt be a help in picking screening techniques.
For the new study, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the researcher team used data on 3,115 women diagnosed with endometrial cancer between 1987 and 2008 in Manitoba. The researchers were then able to compare those participants to 15,084 women who were never diagnosed with cancer. Using the women’s medical records, the researchers were able to see how many were diagnosed with colon cancer by 2009.
Overall, it is known that about 1.9 per cent of women with endometrial cancer went on to get colorectal cancer. That is compared to 1.6 per cent of women who never had endometrial cancer. And while might seem like only a small increase, it could have been due to chance, according to the researchers.
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