Malignant Tumors

uterine cancer, cancer of the uterus, endometrial cancer, symptoms, signs, statistics, treatment, causes, advanced, stages, prognosis, types, metastatic, surgery, uterus, uterine, endometrium, endometrial, hysterectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, womb cancer, cancer of the endometrium, risk factors

Malignant Tumors
Malignant tumors are cancer. Cancer cells can invade and damage tissues and organs near the tumor. Also, cancer cells can break away from a malignant tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system. This is how cancer spreads from the original (primary) tumor to form new tumors in other parts of the body. The spread of cancer is called metastasis.

Most cancers are named for the part of the body in which they begin. The most common type of cancer of the uterus begins in the endometrium. This type of cancer is called endometrial or uterine cancer. In this website, we will use the term uterine cancer to refer to cancer that begins in the endometrium. A different type of cancer, uterine sarcoma, develops in the uterine muscle. Cancer that begins in the cervix is also a different type of cancer. This booklet does not deal with uterine sarcoma or cancer of the cervix. The Cancer Information Service can provide information about uterine sarcoma and cancer of the cervix.

As uterine cancer grows, it may invade nearby organs. Uterine cancer cells also may break away from the tumor and spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs, liver, and bones. When cancer spreads to another part of the body, the new cancer has the same kind of abnormal cells and the same name as the original (primary) cancer. For example, if uterine cancer spreads to the lungs, the cancer cells in the new tumor are uterine cancer cells. Cancer that has spread from the uterus to other parts of the body is called metastatic uterine cancer; it is not lung cancer.