Read article Should I see a womb cancer specialist?
This page tells you about seeing a womb cancer specialist. There is information about
Should I see a womb cancer specialist?
It can be very difficult for GPs to decide who may have a suspected cancer and who has something much less serious. But there are particular symptoms that mean your GP should refer you to a specialist straight away. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) says the following symptoms need an urgent referral to a specialist.
- A lump that the GP can feel in your pelvis, that does not look like fibroids
- Bleeding from the vagina after the menopause in women who are not on hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- Bleeding from the vagina after the menopause in women that goes on for more than 6 weeks after stopping HRT
- Bleeding from the vagina after the menopause in women taking tamoxifen
- Persistent bleeding in between periods in women who have had a pelvic examination that was normal
If you have symptoms and you do not think your GP is taking them seriously enough, you could print out this page and take it along to an appointment.
You can view and print the quick guides for all the pages in the About womb cancer section.
It can be very difficult for GPs to decide who may have a suspected cancer and who may have something much more minor that will go away on its own. With many symptoms, it is perfectly right that your GP should ask you to wait to see if they get better or respond to treatment, such as antibiotics. If GPs referred everyone who came to see them to a specialist immediately, the system would get jammed and people needing urgent appointments wouldn't be able to get them.
The most common symptom of womb cancer is abnormal bleeding from the vagina – especially in women who have had their menopause and stopped having periods. About 90 out of every 100 cases of womb cancer (90%) are picked up because of post menopausal or irregular vaginal bleeding. This is why womb cancer is so often diagnosed early. There are particular symptoms related to vaginal bleeding that mean your GP should refer you to a specialist urgently.
In the UK there are guidelines for GPs to help them decide which patients need to be seen urgently by a specialist. These guidelines on referral for womb cancer were updated by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in June 2005.
According to the NICE guidelines, you should ideally get an appointment within 2 weeks for an urgent referral. The symptoms that need urgent referral to a specialist for possible cancer of the womb are
- A lump that the GP can feel in your pelvis, that does not seem like fibroids
- Bleeding from the vagina after the menopause in women who are not on hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- Bleeding from the vagina after the menopause in women that goes on for more than 6 weeks after stopping HRT
- Bleeding from the vagina after the menopause in women taking tamoxifen
- Persistent bleeding between periods in women who have had a pelvic examination that was normal
If you are concerned that your GP is not taking your symptoms as seriously as you think they should, you could print this page and take it along to an appointment. Ask your GP to talk it through with you and then you may be able to decide together whether you need to see a specialist and if so, how soon.
If you see a specialist they will want to examine you and may do several tests. There is information about the type of tests you may need in the diagnosing womb cancer section.
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