Gwen Ifill's Death Shows We Need Better Endometrial Cancer Research

Venerated journalist and anchor Gwen Ifill died Monday at the age of 61. The cause of death was endometrial cancer, with which she was diagnosed less than a year ago.  Endometrial cancer has a reputation for being one of the most treatable and least-lethal gynecological cancers that women face. But as Ifill’s case shows, a significant minority of cases can be aggressive and fast-paced ― and they’re more likely to be concentrated among black women. For women who have recurrent endometrial cancer, doctors have few medications that can specifically target growth.  “We don’t have as many tools as [we do with] other cancers,” said Dr. Ursula Matulonis, director of the gynecologic oncology program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.  “This is a significant problem for women, and we need to do a better job treating our patients. We need more research around it.”  How most women experience endometrial cancer Endometrial cancer is the most common kind of pelvic cancer in women and is typically diagnosed at an early stage, which results in overall five-year survival rates of about 82 percent (in contrast, cervical cancer has a 68 percent five-year survival rate, while ovarian cancer’s is 46 percent). It refers to cancerous growths in the endometrial cells, which make up the inner lining of the uterus. In premenopausal women, that endometrial lini...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news