Reducing Your Uterine Cancer Risk

There’s no way to guarantee that you’ll never develop uterine cancer. However, there are certain steps you can take for reducing uterine cancer risk. Speak to your physician or take a risk assessment to see how you could get started.

Weight management

We’ve long recognized obesity is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular problems, but it can also put patients at risk for certain forms of cancer, especially uterine cancer. This is because adipose cells, or fat cells, make a protein that change testosterone to estrogen. The increase in estrogen can cause abnormal tissue growth in the uterus.

Getting weight under control can be a crucial first step in lowering your risk. Losing weight isn’t easy – otherwise, no one would struggle with their weight. In many cases, weight issues are complex, caused by far more than simply eating too much and exercising too little.

Many people use food to cope with poor mental health. It’s also difficult to find time to prepare healthy meals and exercise if you’re busy with a job, a commute, a family, and other activities. Nutrition can be the first thing to go when our schedules get too full.

To successfully lose weight and then keep it off, it’s important to do so gradually and under guidance from your physician. Let them know that you are concerned about endometrial cancer and want to reduce your risk through weight loss.  You may also want to seek assistance from a therapist or counselor who can help you understand your relationship with food and identify aspects of your lifestyle that could be holding you back. When appropriate, your physician may recommend seeking interventions like surgery to help aid weight loss steps you’ve already taken.

Click here for some additional tips about weight loss and healthy living.

Genetic counseling and testing

In some cases, uterine cancer is caused by inherited genetic mutations, especially mutations associated with Lynch Syndrome. When a patient comes to Siteman, you will be offered genetic testing to see if these mutations could be driving your cancer. Identifying a genetic mutation can lead to improved, targeted treatment for you, and can alert other family members who could be at risk.

If one of your family members has a genetic mutation associated with endometrial, or uterine, cancer, consider genetic testing to see if you are affected, too.

Genetic testing is simple and only involves a blood draw at a laboratory; however, deciding to undergo a genetic test can be very difficult. At Siteman, we recommend that patients meet with a trained genetic counselor both before and after the test. The counselor’s job is to give you the tools to decide if testing is the right option for you, not to tell you what to do. If you do choose to pursue testing, the counselor will also help you prepare for whatever results you might receive.

Women with cancer-causing genetic mutations have a wide range of options, up to and including having their uterus removed prophylactically to prevent endometrial cancer from occurring. Your genetic counselor and physicians will discuss these options with you and are always ready to offer guidance.