Prognosis | Uterine Cancer

Prognosis

Overall, uterine cancer is usually a relatively well progressing cancer. This is mainly due to the fact that the disease is usually detected relatively early due to its early symptoms. Prognoses are assigned to the stage that was present at the time the disease was diagnosed.

The 5-year survival rate for a diagnosis of stage I uterine cancer is about 90%. This rate decreases to stage II, where about 80% of women are still alive after 5 years. In stage III and IV the tumor has already spread and the 5-year survival rate is 40% and 20% respectively.

The probability that the cancer will return after 5 years is relatively low. Overall, only about 6% of all women diagnosed with the most common form of uterine cancer die. With the removal of the uterus as well as the fallopian tubes and the surrounding tissue, a complete cure can be achieved in most of those affected.

Only if surgery is not possible or metastases are present in other organs, healing is often not possible. In order to be able to better classify uterine cancer when it is diagnosed, stages have been developed that serve this classification. Therapy and prognosis also depend crucially on the stage the uterus cancer was in when it was diagnosed.

Besides a number of different subgroups and classification systems, a rough distinction can be made between stages I-IV.

  • In stage I the cancer is limited to the uterus and only affects the mucous membrane or muscle body of the uterus.
  • In stage II, the cancer already penetrates the cervix.
  • Stage III is when the tumor affects the fallopian tubes, vagina or surrounding lymph nodes.
  • In stage IV uterine cancer, the cancer either invades the bladder or the intestines, or distant metastases of the cancer have been found in other organs.

If uterine cancer has metastasized, this means that tumor cells have attacked other organs either via the lymphatic system or, more rarely in the case of uterine cancer, via the bloodstream. A metastasis of uterine cancer is therefore a tumor that originally appeared in the uterus, but now also occurs in other organs.

Thus, when diagnosing uterine cancer, one should always pay attention to whether metastases may already exist. For this purpose, imaging examinations of the entire body are performed. The cancer can spread locally or to distant organs.

Frequent local sites where metastases of uterine cancer are found are the surrounding lymph nodes as well as the fallopian tubes and vagina.If metastases occur at more distant locations, they are called distant metastases. These can occur in the lungs or bones, for example. The prognosis of uterine cancer deteriorates considerably, especially if distant metastases are present.