What is uterine cancer?
Uterine cancer occurs when cells in the uterus grow and divide in an
abnormal, uncontrolled way. Approximately 95% of uterine cancers are
endometrial cancers that start in the lining of the uterus
(endometrium). The less common form of uterine cancer is uterine
sarcomas that start in cells of the muscle (muometrium) and connective
tissue (stroma) of the uterus.
You can access further information about uterine cancer, including
risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from
Cancer
Council Victoria. You can also
call
our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about
our range of services for people affected by cancer.
The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web
portal,
Data
Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published
here.
How common is uterine cancer?
In 2023, 926 Victorian females were diagnosed with uterine cancer.
Currently, uterine cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 22.3 per 100,000
females. The median age at diagnosis of uterine cancer is 64 (Figure 1
& 2). Accounting for 2.4% of all cancers diagnosed and 1.2% of all
cancer-related deaths in 2023, uterine cancer was the 5th most commonly
diagnosed cancer and the 8th most common cause of cancer-related deaths
in Victorian females.
Trends in uterine cancer over time
For females between 1982 to 2023 the age standardised incidence rate
of uterine cancer increased by an average of 0.9% per year.
Uterine cancer morphology
Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells
(morphology) which have caused uterine cancer among all cases. Most
uterine cancer tumours, 73.9%, present as endometrioid carcinoma
tumours.
Uterine cancer subtypes
Figure 5 provides a breakdown of uterine cancer by subsite location
in 2023. Most (97.4%) are found in the Endometrium section of the
uterus.
Geographical variance in uterine cancer by local government
area
Figure 5 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates
of uterine cancer, by local government areas. Darker shading indicates
areas with higher rates of uterine cancer.
Uterine cancer in people born overseas
Figure 7 shows the age standardised incidence rates of uterine cancer
in Australian-born Victorian females compared to other major migrant
groups, over the five-year period 2018 to 2022. The highest age
standardised incidence rate of 24.4 was observed in those born in the
North America region and lowest rate of 10.8 was observed in people born
in the South and Central America region.
Uterine cancer five-year relative survival
Figure 8 shows the change in 5-year survival for uterine cancer, and
the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It
demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for uterine
cancer between 1983-1987 and 2018-2022 from 75% to 82%.