Can womb cancer be prevented?

Prevention is not a substitute for investigating symptoms. Abnormal vaginal bleeding can provide an early warning that the womb lining needs assessment.

Long exposure of the womb lining to oestrogen without enough opposing progesterone can encourage excessive growth. This can occur in several settings, including some hormone regimens and irregular ovulation.

Endometrial hyperplasia is an overgrowth of the lining that sometimes contains precancerous cell changes. Recognising and managing it can reduce progression risk. Inherited conditions can also raise risk and require a specialist prevention plan.

Review menopausal hormone therapy and other hormone medicines with the prescriber rather than changing them yourself. If you have irregular or infrequent periods, discuss whether the womb lining needs protection or investigation.

Aim for sustainable movement, nutrition and weight goals that suit your health, and seek support for diabetes management when relevant. People with a strong family history of womb or bowel cancer can ask whether genetic counselling is appropriate.

If hyperplasia has been diagnosed, take the prescribed treatment and attend planned sampling or imaging. Follow-up checks whether the lining has responded and helps the team adjust care.

Arrange prompt assessment for any bleeding after menopause, bleeding between periods, periods that become unusually heavy or prolonged, or blood-stained vaginal discharge. These patterns can have non-cancerous causes, but they still require evaluation.

Seek urgent help if bleeding is heavy and you feel faint, weak, short of breath or have severe pain. Urgency comes from the severity of bleeding and associated symptoms, not from an assumption about the cause.

Ask whether your menstrual history, hormone medicines, previous biopsy results or family history change your care. Clarify which bleeding changes to report, whether genetic assessment fits your history and what follow-up is needed for hyperplasia.