Diagnosis and Treatment of Uterine Cancer

The uterus is the female organ where a fetus develops into a baby, and is also the organ that sheds its lining each month during menstruation. The uterus is made up of different tissue types that can give rise to different kinds of uterine cancer.

Endometrial Cancer

By far the most common kind of uterine cancer is endometrial cancer. There is more information about Stanford treatment of endometrial cancer in the endometrial cancer section of the web site.

Uterine Sarcoma

In less than 5% of cases, uterine cancer develops in the connective tissue that supports the uterus. In this case the cancer is called uterine sarcoma.

Causes of Uterine Sarcoma

Although it is not known exactly what causes uterine sarcoma, it is clear that past pelvic exposure to certain kinds of radiation that are used to treat cancer can increase your risk of developing uterine sarcoma in the future. In addition, for unknown reasons, African-American women seem to have a higher risk than other women of developing a specific kind of uterine sarcoma called leiomyosarcoma.

Stanford Expertise

Because uterine sarcoma is relatively rare it is important to be seen by a team of physicians who have expertise in treating this specific disease. The gynecological oncology specialists at the Cancer Center are recognized experts in treating uterine sarcoma, for example our staff have been involved in developing standard guidelines for the treating the disease for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).