This is the most common gynecological cancer: an endometrial cancer awareness campaign will be launched by patient associations and doctors, its promoters announced Thursday morning in Paris.
Cancer of the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, affects more than 8,000 women each year and causes the death of 1,500 patients, according to data from the National Cancer Institute (Inca).
However, this disease “is not known to the general public”, deplores Vincent Lavoué, obstetrician gynecologist at Rennes University Hospital, present at the press conference organized as part of the Pari(s) Santé Femmes congress.
The average age of women affected by this cancer is 69 years. It mainly occurs after menopause, “a period when women stop gynecological follow-ups, which results in late treatment”, explains Vincent Lavoué.
“Just as we regularly go to the dentist at any age, we must continue to consult our gynecologist, even when we think we no longer need it,” adds Coralie Marjollet, president of the Imagyn association (Initiative for patients with of gynecological cancers).
“There is a taboo around this cancer which affects the intimate”
It is therefore imperative to consult your gynecologist “as soon as bleeding appears after menopause”, specifies Vincent Lavoué, because “the earlier the cancer is detected, the better the prognosis”. The treatments are also less cumbersome and less invasive than at a developed stage of the disease.
“The main risk factors are being overweight, aging, diabetes, family history of endometrial cancer, Lynch syndrome, as well as overexposure to estrogens,” explains Professor Martin Koskas, obstetrician-gynecologist at the Bichat hospital, in Paris.
“For patients, it is all the more difficult as there is a taboo around this cancer which affects the intimate. It is necessary to free up speech and raise awareness,” says Laure Guéroult Accolas, founder of Mon gynecological cancer network, a social network that facilitates the daily lives of patients and their loved ones facing cancer.
The awareness campaign will support Turquoise September, awareness month for the fight against gynecological cancers.
