Uterine cancer statistics

Cases

New cases of uterine cancer, 2014, UK

Deaths

Deaths from uterine cancer, 2014, UK

Survival

Survive uterine cancer for 10 or more years, 2010-11, England and Wales

Prevention

Preventable cases of uterine cancer, UK

  • There were around 9,300 new cases of uterine cancer in the UK in 2014, that’s 26 cases diagnosed every day.
  • Uterine cancer is the 13th most common cancer in the UK (2014).
  • Uterine cancer accounts for 3% of all new cases in the UK (2014).
  • In females in the UK, uterine cancer is the fourth most common cancer, with around 9,300 cases diagnosed in 2014.
  • Almost 6 in 10 (58%) uterine cancer cases in the UK each year are diagnosed in females aged 65 and over (2012-2014).
  • Incidence rates for uterine cancer in the UK are highest in females aged 70-74 (2012-2014).
  • Since the early 1990s, uterine cancer incidence rates in females have increased by almost three-fifths (57%) in the UK.
  • Over the last decade, uterine cancer incidence rates in females have increased by more than a fifth (22%) in the UK.
  • Around a fifth of uterine cancer cases are diagnosed at a late stage in England (2014) and Northern Ireland (2010-2014).
  • Most uterine cancers occur in the endometrium.
  • Incidence rates for uterine cancer are projected to fall by 7% in the UK between 2014 and 2035, to 33 cases per 100,000 females by 2035.
  • 1 in 41 women will be diagnosed with uterine cancer during their lifetime.
  • Uterine cancer incidence in England is not associated with deprivation.
  • Uterine cancer is as common in White, Asian and Black females.
  • In the UK around 38,700 women were still alive at the end of 2006, up to ten years after being diagnosed with uterine cancer.
  • In Europe, around 99,000 new cases of uterine cancer were estimated to have been diagnosed in 2012. The UK incidence rate is 20th highest in Europe.
  • Worldwide, more than 319,000 women were estimated to have been diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2012, with incidence rates varying across the world.

See more in-depth uterine cancer incidence statistics

  • There were around 2,200 uterine cancer deaths in the UK in 2014, that’s around 6 deaths every day.
  • Uterine cancer is the 19th most common cause of cancer death in the UK (2014).
  • Uterine cancer accounts for 3% of all cancer deaths in females in the UK (2014).
  • In females in the UK, uterine cancer is the ninth most common cause of cancer death, with around 2,200 deaths in 2014.
  • Around half (49%) of uterine cancer deaths in the UK each year are in females aged 75 and over (2012-2014).
  • Mortality rates for uterine cancer in the UK are highest in females aged 85-89 (2012-2014).
  • Since the early 1970s, uterine cancer mortality rates in females have decreased by less than a tenth (7%) in the UK.
  • Over the last decade, uterine cancer mortality rates in females have increased by less than a fifth (16%) in the UK.
  • Mortality rates for uterine cancer are projected to rise by 19% in the UK between 2014 and 2035, to 9 deaths per 100,000 females by 2035.
  • Uterine cancer deaths in England are more common in females living in the most deprived areas.
  • In Europe, around 99,000 new cases of uterine cancer were estimated to have been diagnosed in 2012. The UK incidence rate is 20th highest in Europe.
  • Worldwide, more than 319,000 women were estimated to have been diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2012, with incidence rates varying across the world.

See more in-depth uterine cancer mortality statistics

  • Almost 7 in 10 (78%) women diagnosed with uterine cancer in England and Wales survive their disease for ten years or more (2010-11).
  • Around 8 in 10 (79%) women diagnosed with uterine cancer in England and Wales survive their disease for five years or more (2010-11).
  • 9 in 10 (90%) women diagnosed with uterine cancer in England and Wales survive their disease for one year or more (2010-11).
  • Almost 9 in 10 women in England diagnosed with uterine cancer aged 15-39 survive their disease for five years or more, compared with less than 6 in 10 women diagnosed aged 80 and over (2009-2013).
  • Uterine cancer survival is improving and has increased in the last 40 years in the UK.
  • In the 1970s, almost 6 in 10 women diagnosed with uterine cancer survived their disease beyond ten years, now it's almost 8 in 10.
  • When diagnosed at its earliest stage, 95% of women with uterine cancer will survive their disease for five years or more, compared with around 3 in 20 women when diagnosed at the latest stage.
  • Five-year relative survival for uterine cancer in women is similar to the European average in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

See more in-depth uterine cancer survival statistics

  • A person’s risk of developing cancer depends on many factors, including age, genetics, and exposure to risk factors (including some potentially avoidable lifestyle factors).
  • 37% of uterine cancer cases each year in the UK are linked to major lifestyle and other risk factors.
  • Factors which reduce lifetime exposure to oestrogen may relate to lower uterine cancer risk.
  • Overweight and obesity is the main potentially avoidable risk factor for uterine cancer, linked to an estimated 34% of uterine cancer cases in the UK.
  • An estimated 37% of uterine cancer cases in the UK are linked to lifestyle factors including overweight and obesity, lack of physical activity (4%), and hormone replacement therapy (1%).
  • Certain medical conditions and treatments may be linked with higher uterine cancer risk.
  • Some types of oral contraceptives are linked with lower uterine cancer risk.

See more in-depth uterine cancer risk factors

  • 'Two-week wait' is the most common route to diagnosing uterine cancer.
  • GP referral is the route with the highest proportion of cases diagnosed at an early stage, for uterine cancer.
  • 'Two-week wait’ standards are met by all countries, ‘31-day wait’ is met by all but Northern Ireland and Wales, and ’62-day wait’ is met by all but Wales, Northern Ireland and only partly by Scotland for gynaecological cancers.
  • Around 8 in 10 uterine cancer patients receive major surgical resection as part of their cancer treatment.
  • 9 in 10 patients had a ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ patient experience.
  • 9 in 10 patients are given the name of their Clinical Nurse Specialist.

See more in-depth uterine cancer diagnosis and treatment statistics

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The latest statistics available for uterine cancer in the UK are; incidence 2014, mortality 2014 and survival 2010-2011 (all ages combined) and 2009-2013 (by age).

The ICD codes Open a glossary item foruterine cancer are ICD-10 C54-C55, which includes cancers of the corpus uteri (or body of uterus [C54] and cancers of the uterus where the part is unspecified [C55]).

Uterine cancer is sometimes called womb cancer, and is occasionally reported as body of the uterus (C54) alone.

European Age-Standardised Rates were calculated using the 1976 European Standard Population (ESP) unless otherwise stated as calculated with ESP2013. ASRs calculated with ESP2013 are not comparable with ASRs calculated with ESP1976.

Lifetime risk estimates were calculated using incidence, mortality, population and all-cause mortality data for 2012.

Survival statistics give an overall picture of survival and (unless otherwise stated) include all adults (15-99) diagnosed, at all ages, stages Open a glossary item and co-morbidities Open a glossary item. The survival time experienced by an individual patient may be much higher or lower, depending on specific patient and tumour characteristics.

Meta-analyses Open a glossary item and systematic reviews Open a glossary item are cited where available, as they provide the best overview of all available research and most take study quality into account. Individual case-control and cohort studies are reported where such aggregated data are lacking.

Most cases of uterine cancer are in the endometrium; accordingly most evidence cited on our risk factors page is for endometrial cancer specifically rather than uterine cancer overall. The specific cancer type is stated where possible.

Routes to diagnosis statistics were calculated from cases of cancer registered in England which were diagnosed in 2012-2013. Staging proportions only include patients with a known stage (cases with an unknown stage at diagnosis are not included in the denominator).

Cancer waiting times statistics are for patients who entered the health care system within financial year 2014-15. Uterine cancer is part of the group 'Gynaecological cancer' for cancer waiting times data. Codes vary per country but broadly include: Vulva, vagina, cervix, uterus, ovary, other female genital organs, placenta and secondary cancers of ovary.

Cancer surgical resection rates data is for patients diagnosed in England between 2006 and 2010.

Patient Experience data is for adult patients in England with a primary diagnosis of cancer, who were in active treatment between September and November 2013 and who completed a survey in 2014.

Deprivation gradient statistics were calculated using incidence data for three time periods: 1996-2000, 2001-2005 and 2006-2010 and for mortality for two time periods: 2002-2006 and 2007-2011. The 1997-2001 mortality data were only used for the all cancers combined group as this time period includes the change in coding from ICD-9 to ICD-10. The deprivation quintiles were calculated using the Income domain scores from the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) from the following years: 2004, 2007 and 2010. Full details on the data and methodology can be found in the Cancer by Deprivation in England NCIN report.

See also

Data sources and timings - why are these the latest statistics?

Information and explanations on terminology used for statistics

More on staging data

Our calculations explained

Information for patients

Last reviewed:

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the essential work of the cancer registries in the United Kingdom and Ireland Association of Cancer Registries, without which there would be no data.

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