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Causes

By Mayo Clinic staff

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Illustration showing endometrial cancer Endometrial cancer

Living With Cancer

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Doctors don't know what causes endometrial cancer. What's known is that something occurs to create a genetic mutation within cells in the endometrium — the lining of the uterus.

The genetic mutation turns normal, healthy cells into abnormal cells. Healthy cells grow and multiply at a set rate, eventually dying at a set time. Abnormal cells grow and multiply out of control, and they don't die at a set time. The accumulating abnormal cells form a mass (tumor). Cancer cells invade nearby tissues and can separate from an initial tumor to spread elsewhere in the body (metastasize).

Risk factors Symptoms
References
  1. Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/208746819-4/0/1709/0.html. Accessed April 2, 2013.
  2. Lentz GM, et al. Comprehensive Gynecology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/linkTo?type=bookPage&isbn=978-0-323-06986-1&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-06986-1..C2009-0-48752-X--TOP. Accessed April 2, 2013.
  3. Uterine neoplasms. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/f_guidelines.asp. Accessed April 2, 2013.
  4. What you need to know about cancer of the uterus. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/uterus. Accessed April 2, 2013.
  5. Cramer DW. The epidemiology of endometrial and ovarian cancer. Hematology and Oncology Clinics of North America. 2012;26:1.
  6. Taking time: Support for people with cancer. National Cancer Institute. http://cancer.gov/cancertopics/takingtime. Accessed April 5, 2013.
DS00306 May 14, 2013

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