Cancer - Uterus

The Uterus The uterus is also known as the womb. It is a small, hollow organ made of muscle. It looks about the size and shape of an upside down pear. The uterus sits quite low in the abdomen and is held there lightly by muscle ligaments. The uterus is part of the female reproductive system. Eggs travel from the ovaries down the Fallopian tube to the uterus. It is in the uterus that a fertilized egg grows into a baby. The uterus is joined to the vagina by the cervix, or neck of the womb. The uterus is lined with a layer of cells that is intended to receive and nourish a fertilised egg. This lining is called the endometirum and is made up of several layers that include skin-like cells (surface epithelium), blood vessels, tissue spaces and glands. If an egg isn't fertilised by male sperm, it is shed with the lining each month through the vagina as a woman's monthly period (menstruation). When a woman's ovaries stop making oestrogen and progesterone hormones that cause the monthly cycle of egg release and shedding of the endometrium, she is going through the change in life, or menopause. Menopause literally means the ceasing of the menses, that is, the stopping of period bleeding. After menopause it is no longer possible to have a child. Cancer of the uterus Cancer of the uterus is the most common gynaecological cancer affecting women. Cancer of the uterus can be one of several types of cancer, depending in which part of the uterus the cancer arises. The majority of cancers of the uterus are actually cancer of the endometrium, the lining of the uterus. Cancers can also develop in the muscle layers of the uterus. Knowing which type of cancer you have is important because it affects the decisions you and your doctor will make about the treatment.