
There’s been a steep uptick in aggressive uterine cancers among American women, especially black women, since 2000, a new study shows. It also found that black women with these aggressive cancers have lower survival rates than other women. Researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) analyzed data on uterine cancer among 30- to 79-year-olds. They found that cases rose roughly 1% a year from 2003 to 2015. Rates among black women surpassed those for white women in 2007 and were consistently higher from 2011 through 2015. The researchers also took a closer look at endometrioid and non-endometrioid subtypes of uterine cancer. Endometrioid cancers start in the uterine lining (endometrium). They are more common, usually have better outcomes and survival rates, and are more strongly linked with hormonal risk factors and obesity. Non-endometrioid subtypes can begin in the other supporting tissues of the uterus, and are rarer. Rates of endometrioid subtypes were stable in white women over the study period, but they increased among other racial/ethnic groups. Rates of aggressive non-endometrioid subtypes rose 2.9% a year from 2000 to 2015 in all racial/ethnic groups. But black women had much higher rates of aggressive non-endometrioid uterine cancers (25.9 per 100,000) over the period than white women (11.4), Hispanic women (10.1), and Asian/Pacific Islander women (7.5). The five-year relative survival rate was lower for all women with… read on >