Most Common Types of Gynecologic Cancers

  • Endometrial/Uterine is the most common GYN cancer. The primary symptom of endometrial cancer is abnormal bleeding.
  • Ovarian cancer is the second most common GYN cancer. Since there are no effective screening tests, one must be aware of the earliest symptoms of ovarian cancer.
  • Cervical cancer has been steadily decreasing in incidence with the increased prevalence of pap smear screening. We encourage you to get an annual pap smear.

Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer

    Recent studies have shown that most women with ovarian cancer have had some or all of the following symptoms almost daily for more than a few weeks:

  • Bloating
  • Pelvic or abdominal pain
  • Urinary urgency or frequency
  • Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
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    The key is whether that is change from normal for your body.

    Other symptoms can include fatigue, indigestion, back pain, pain with intercourse, constipation, and menstrual irregularity.

    Because the signs and symptoms of GYN cancers may also be associated with other conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, it is important that your physician take seriously the possibility that ovarian cancer may be present, especially if you have a family or personal history of ovarian, breast, or colon cancer, and have never borne children.

    If you should have these symptoms, please see your gynecologist, who can follow-up with some diagnostic tests - CA125, transvaginal ultrasound, and pelvic exam. If these results indicate the possibility of ovarian cancer, ask - no, insist - to be referred to a gyn oncologist.

2010 Awareness Events

CanSurvive members provided awareness materials and offered one-to-one conversations about the signs and symptoms of gynecologic cancers to over 2,000 people this year! We had tables at ovarian cancer fund-raising events (NLOCF's Ovarian Cycle and MotherWalk and LCBOCF's Head Over Teal). During September we had a table one day in UAB's North Pavilion and at the Women's Center at Brookwood Hospital. Members also distributed information to people at small health fairs where they worked.

CanSurvive and NLOCF co-sponsored an awareness booth all four days (34 hours) of the Southern Women's Show at the BJCC in October.

Speakers training was also facilitated by member Dianne Baer.

Thank You to Nino's Italian Restaurant in Pelham

Owners Walter Caron and Eli Gold donated 10% of their September 14 evening sales to CanSurvive. Thank you!

September 2009

We will have an awareness table at the Southern Women's Show in Birmingham at the BJCC. Dates are Sept. 24-27.

September 2008

Tina DiMonte got Governor Riley to declare the month of September Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in Alabama. We received a printed proclamation that will be framed and displayed in the clinic.

We set up awareness tables at the entrance to Kirklin Clinic on September 4 and in the lobby of UAB Highlands on September 5. Our members passed out literature on gyn cancers and the HPV vaccine, "It whispers...so listen" teal bracelets, and emery boards with our contact information on it. Most importantly, we talked one on one to those we met. Our thanks go to Image South for the nice zippered teal tote bags they provided for our handouts.

Two of our physicians also appeared in the local Stand Up 2 Cancer programs on September 5.

Our group also provided materials for a presentation on Ovarian Cancer Signs & Symptoms and Screening at Brookwood Hospital in the Women's Center on September 25.