The womb

• A quick guide to what's on this page
• Womb cancer and other types of cancer
• The womb and reproductive system
• Non cancerous womb problems
• Endometriosis
• Fibroids

Womb cancer can be called by several different names. Doctors often call it uterine cancer because ‘uterus’ is the medical name for the womb. Or they may call it endometrial cancer. The endometrium is the lining of the womb. Endometrial cancer is the commonest type of womb cancer.

If you are looking for information about cancer of the cervix, this is not the right section of CancerHelp UK for you. The link will take you to the cervical cancer section. The cervix is the neck of the womb. But the cells that cover it and become cancerous are different to the cells that become cancerous in womb cancer. It may seem strange to separate them like this. But they are different cancers, with different outlooks and sometimes different treatments.

The womb is part of a woman’s reproductive system. It is the pear-shaped muscular bag that protects a growing baby during pregnancy. The reproductive system is made up of the

• Vagina
• Womb or uterus
• The neck of the womb (the cervix)
• Fallopian tubes
• Ovaries

The vagina is the tube that connects the neck of the womb with the outside of the body. The womb is in the lower abdomen, between the bladder and the back passage (rectum). The ovaries are on either side of the womb. These are where the woman’s eggs are produced. There are two tubes that connect the top of the womb to the ovaries. These are called the fallopian tubes.

The lining of the womb is called the endometrium. In fertile women the endometrium grows and thickens each month, to be ready to receive a fertilised egg if pregnancy occurs. If fertilisation takes place then the endometrial lining will continue to thicken and eventually become the placenta. This acts to supply nourishment from the mother to the growing foetus.

If the woman’s egg is not fertilised by a man’s sperm, then the thickened lining is shed from the womb, through the vagina as a monthly period. This is known as menstruation. Menstruation begins at puberty (menarche) and stops at menopause (sometimes called the change of life). The ages at which these occur vary greatly from woman to woman.

As it thickens, the womb lining becomes a rich spongy surface full of blood vessels. Whether or not it will develop to form a placenta, or be sloughed off and lost, depends on whether the woman becomes pregnant that month. The menstrual cycle (the thickening and sloughing of the womb lining) is controlled by the female sex hormones

• Oestrogen
• Progesterone

These female sex hormones are produced by the ovaries.

Sometimes problems with the womb can happen that have nothing to do with cancer but can cause similar symptoms. Common problems include endometriosis and fibroids.

This disease is most common in women in their 30s and 40s, especially those who have never been pregnant. In endometriosis, the lining of the womb (the endometrium) begins to grow on the outside of the womb and on the nearby organs. It can be very painful and sometimes causes abnormal vaginal bleeding. Rarely it can affect the woman’s ability to have children - her fertility. Endometriosis is usually treated with hormone therapy or surgery (or both).

These are quite common benign tumours of the muscles of the womb, found mostly in women in their 40s. Benign tumours are not cancers. They can usually be removed and do not usually come back. Cells from these tumours do not spread to other parts of the body (and are very rarely a threat to life). You can have several fibroids at a time. They do not always need treating. They often cause no symptoms. This depends on where they are and how big they are. Large fibroids are more likely to cause symptoms. Symptoms include irregular bleeding, vaginal discharge and frequent need to pass urine (if the fibroids are pressing on the bladder). If your fibroids are causing pain, your doctor might decide to remove them, or give you some other type of treatment.