| | The uterus is a small, pear-shaped organ that is located in a woman's pelvis. Cancer of the uterus is the most common cancer of the female reproductive tract. Uterine cancer may affect the cervix (the narrow, lower portion of the uterus) or the endometrium, the inner layer of tissue that lines the uterus. Endometrial cancer is the most common type of uterine cancer. Left untreated, uterine cancer can grow and spread to other organs of the body such as the lungs, liver and bones and other organs in the pelvis. Because of the effectiveness and availability of screening tests, cervical cancer has become relatively rare in the United States. See the cervical cancer summary for detailed information on this disease. For information on cancer of the vagina, which is extremely rare, please see the vaginal cancer summary.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that 36,100 cases of uterine cancer, usually of the endometrium, will be diagnosed in 2000. Incidence rates have remained steady since the mid-1980s at about 22 per 100,000. An estimated 6,500 deaths from endometrial cancer are expected in 2000. While endometrial cancer is twice as common among white women than among African-American women, black women with the disease are twice as likely to die from it as white women.
According to the American Cancer Society, 92 percent of women with endometrial cancer will survive one year after diagnosis and 96 percent of these women will survive after five years if the cancer is discovered at an early stage. But prognosis depends largely on timely diagnosis. If the cancer has already progressed, an estimated 66 percent will survive. Survival rates for whites exceed those for blacks by at least 18 percent at every stage. The five-year average survival rate for endometrial cancer is 83 percent, because the disease is often detected and treated in its early stages.
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