Screening can pick up early signs of womb cancer

In a paper published today in Lancet Oncology , scientists in the Gynaecological Cancer Research Centre at UCL have demonstrated that an ultrasound scan being used in screening trials for ovarian cancer can also pick up  signs of endometrial cancer before any symptoms occur. This is the first large scale study of screening for endometrial (womb) cancer, which is increasing in incidence and is responsible for over 1,700 deaths per year in the UK. The results were achieved using ultrasound scanning to identify thickening of the womb lining (endometrium). Analysis of findings from more than 37,000 women showed that the scans identified a significant difference in womb lining thickness in the 133 women who were diagnosed with womb cancer, or with Atypical Endometrial Hyperplasia (AEH) (which is a precursor of the cancer).  The average endometrial thickness for these 133 women was 11.5mm whereas for women not diagnosed with either condition the average thickness was 3.5mm. 25% of the population were identified as being at high risk based on the basis of factors associated with endometrial cancer and included nearly 40% of the cases of endometrial cancer and AEH. This high risk group could be the focus of a screening programme for womb cancer were it to be implemented and would limit the burden of diagnostic procedures, false positives and cost. The scans were undertaken as part of the UK Collaborative Trial for Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) which aims to establish the impact of ovarian cancer screening on ovarian cancer mortality.