Basic Information About Uterine Cancer

Uterine cancer fact sheet

When cancer starts in the uterus, it is called uterine cancer. The uterus is the pear-shaped organ in a woman’s pelvis (the area below your stomach and in between your hip bones). The uterus, also called the womb, is where the baby grows when a woman is pregnant.

All women are at risk for uterine cancer, but the risk increases with age. Most uterine cancers are found in women who are going through or who have gone through menopause—the time of life when your menstrual periods stop.

Uterine cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women in the United States and the most common gynecologic cancer. Each year in the United States, about 50,600 women in the United States get uterine cancer and about 9,300 die from it.