Endometriosis raises endometrial cancer risk and is also a possible risk factor for ovarian cancer. There are currently no screening programs available for ovarian or endometrial cancers, and one reason for this is due to their low incidences. Current testing isn’t very specific, but researchers suggest for combatting the problem, it’s important to use risk factors in order to define subpopulations of higher incidences.
Researchers utilized a hospital-based case-control analysis, which represented patients with endometrial or ovarian cancer who participated in studies to assess the risk of either disease. Control women were aged 40 to 85, and the study consisted of 289 patients and 1,016 controls.
Endometriosis was reported in 2.1 percent of the controls and 4.8 percent of the cases. The researchers found that endometriosis was a relevant predictor for case-control status in addition to other predictive factors.
Endometriosis Can Increase the Risk of Developing Endometrial Cancer Later in Life
A study published in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancerfound that patients with endometriosis have a higher risk of developing endometrial cancer later in life. Previous studies have found a link between endometriosis and other forms of ovarian cancer, and although this association has been found, the link between endometriosis and endometrial cancer has not been well established.
The researchers from Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei in Taiwan conducted a population-based national health registry database of 15,488 cases to determine the development of endometrial cancer. Each patient included in the study was paired with eight controls of same age, sex, and index year.
After a 10-year follow-up, 392 patients developed endometrial cancer with 104 (0.7 percent) cases in the cohort and 288 (0.2 percent) in the controls. The results showed that there were higher incidences of endometrial cancer in the endometriosis cohort, as opposed to the healthy controls.
The results reveal that there is an increased risk of endometriosis and endometrial cancer, but the common link is yet to be identified. Further research is required to better understand the association between the two diseases.
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