Black women less likely to survive uterine cancer, study finds

To come up with the findings, researchers have analyzed 36 studies, including more than 140.000 women from around the world.

Cancer of the endometrium, which is the lining of the uterus, typically strikes women around age 60, after the end of their reproductive years, according to NCI.

“Endometrial cancer incidence is increasing for all women, particularly the aggressive subtypes”, the authors write.

Endometrial cancer is becoming more common in the United States, and black women appear more likely to get the most aggressive types of tumors and die from the disease, a new study suggests.

While previous research has suggested that these birth control pills are potentially linked to a reduction in ovarian and endometrial tumor risk, the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) said that these oral contraceptives can also cause an increased risk for other malignancies, such as liver, breast and cervical tumors. One third of the women who had endometrial cancer used birth control pills for nearly three years and 40% of the healthy women took the pills for more than four years. Half of the participants were at least 63 years old, while half of those who had endometrial cancer were diagnosed by 2001.

The researchers observed increasing incidence rates for endometrial cancers across all racial/ethnic groups, with the greatest APC seen for non-Hispanic black and Asian women (APC, 2.5 for both). For almost every stage and type, the 5-year relative survival for non-Hispanic black women was significantly lower than non-Hispanic white women; in contrast, Hispanic and Asian women had the same or better survival. Factors that contribute to the risk of having endometrial cancer are obesity, never giving birth, starting menstruation at a younger age, entering menopause at an older age and taking estrogen therapy to ease menopause symptoms.

The researchers discovered that every five years of using contraceptive pills was associated with a reduction in endometrial cancer risk by as much as 24 percent.

However, the researchers know that there is more to understand about the positive effect of the oral contraceptives especially on the aspect of protection long after stopping to take them. The researchers said that in the 1960s, first oral contraceptive was introduced and around 400 million women in high-income countries alone have used the pills. In her opinion, the SEER data must be complemented by the study of real endometrial tumors in order to determine whether non-Hispanic black women are more inclined to develop this disease or not. In addition, there is 17 percent lower risk of less common sarcomas, which is a type of cancer that begins in the uterine muscle and supportive tissue. A federal judge ruled on that Bartell Drug Co., which operates 50 drug stores in the Seattle region must pay for prescription contraceptives, like the birth control pills shown here, for its female employees. This continues on even after the users have stopped using the contraceptives after 30 years.