My mother has cancer of the womb, does this mean I am more likely to develop it?

Uterine cancer (also called womb or endometrial cancer.) affects about 1 in 75 women. It usually occurs in those over the age of 50 with only 1 in 20 of all endometrial cancers occurring in women younger than 40.

As with most other cancers, the exact cause of uterine cancers is not known, however there are some things that are known to make a woman more likely to develop a cancer of the womb (uterus). These include:

• taking the 'oestrogen only' hormone replacement therapy, nowadays women who still have their womb are given combination hormone treatment.
• being overweight or obese, the reason for this is that the fat in women's bodies converts natural testosterone-like hormones to oestrogen-like hormones, and the more fat there is available for this, then the more oestrogens there are around.
• Some of the other risk factors for uterine cancer are unfortunately difficult to avoid or control. These include some types of infertility, a late menopause, heavy bleeding at menopause, and medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Having children or taking the oral contraceptive pill are two things which seem to substantially decrease the risk of uterine cancer - this seems to be related to the higher levels of the protective progesterone hormones which occur during pregnancy and which are present in the birth control pill.

Most cases of uterine cancer are not inherited through a faulty gene, because there normally isn’t a cluster of endometrial cancer in families to suggest that a gene fault is running in a family. However, there is a hereditary form of bowel cancer, called HNPCC – hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer. As the name suggests, HNPCC describes a set of genetic mutations that are normally linked to the development of early onset bowel cancer. However, scientific studies have found that in women, carrying this genetic mutation also significantly increases their risk of developing uterine cancer. There is also a (weaker) link to stomach, ovarian, bladder, kidney and pancreatic cancer.

So if in your family (on one side of it) you have at least two relatives with bowel cancer diagnosed under the age of 60, or you have a number of bowel and endometrial cancers on the same side of your family, or you already know that one of your relatives has been found to carry an HNPCC-type genetic mutation, you might want to talk to your GP, who will assess your family history and might suggest that you see a cancer genetic specialist.

However, bowel cancer is a common cancer, so if you had only one elderly relative with bowel cancer this is in all likelihood would be unconnected with your mother’s endometrial cancer. It is very normal to have a number of relatives with different cancers in your family.