Uterine cancer cases are on the rise. And among women of color, the rates are even higher. Black, Latina and Asian women are impacted at a rate that’s 2.5 times higher than white women.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Niaimi is with the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center. He says the obesity epidemic is, in part, to blame.
"We can see that there is a correlation between the increasing weight of the nation and the higher prevalence of endometrial cancer," said Al-Niaimi.
Endometrial cancer is the more common type of uterine cancer. Another hurdle is health literacy.
"Here is a correlation between the higher incidence and prevalence of uterine cancer in non white Caucasian American, and that correlation is linked to health literacy and access to health care," Al-Niaimi said.
There's also confusion about well-women health exams, especially after menopause, he said. And if women are not being routinely seen after menopause, they might not know that postmenopausal bleeding, for example, is not normal.
"The problem with that is that the most common symptoms of uterine cancer is bleeding after menopause."
Roughly 10% of all women 55 and older experience bleeding after menopause.
