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It 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.
Although most womb cancers are not caused by a genetic link, in a small number of families, a gene fault HPNCC (hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer) can be present that raises the risk of developing womb cancer. If you have several close family members who have bowel or womb cancer (especially if these were developed at a young age) this could be due to an inherited faulty gene. If you are worried that you or other family members may have an increased risk of cancer you can talk to your GP, who can talk to you about cancer and genetics.
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.
