What research is going on into womb cancer?

Researchers are looking at the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of womb cancer.

Go to Cancer Research UK’s clinical trials database if you are looking for a trial for womb cancer in the UK. You need to talk to your specialist if there are any trials that you think you might be able to take part in.

All cancer treatments have to be fully researched before they can be used for everyone. This is so we can be sure that:

  • they work
  • they work better than the treatments already available 
  • they are known to be safe

The latest research into causes, prevention and treatment for womb cancer is outlined below.

Research into preventing womb cancer

Researchers are looking into whether having the hormone treatment progesterone could prevent womb cancer.

They are looking at this for people who are overweight or obese. And for women who have a diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia.

Endometrial hyperplasia is when the lining of the womb becomes thickened. It isn’t cancer but for some women it can increase their risk of getting it.

Researchers want to find out if having hormone progesterone either as tablets or the Mirena intrauterine system could prevent cancer. The usual treatment for this is surgery. This would be particularly helpful for those who can’t have surgery.

Research into the causes of womb cancer

Researchers want to learn more about the possible genetic causes of a number of cancers including womb cancer.

They want to find out more about genes that they already know increase people’s risk of developing cancer. And they want to find new genes. They also want to find out about other factors that may interact with our genes to increase our risk of developing cancer. 

Research into diagnosing womb cancer

Clinical trials are looking at different ways to diagnose womb cancer.

Urine and vaginal sample tests

Vaginal bleeding is a common symptom of womb cancer, but it can also be a sign of other less serious conditions. When you have vaginal bleeding your GP arranges several tests. Only 5 in 100 women (5%) who have bleeding after the menopause have cancer. This means many women have tests that can cause anxiety only to find they don’t have cancer.

So, researchers are looking at a new test. This test looks at substances in urine and vaginal fluid to help them decide who needs to have further tests and who doesn’t. 

Scans

Clinical trials are also looking into what type of scan works best to find out if womb cancer has spread. 

Research into treatment for womb cancer

Most womb cancers are diagnosed early and are cured with surgery. Some are diagnosed later or come back after treatment. Doctors are looking for new ways to improve treatment for womb cancer.

Targeted cancer drugs and immunotherapy

Targeted cancer drugs work by ‘targeting’ those differences that help a cancer cell to grow and survive. Some seek out and destroy cancer cells. Others help the body's immune system to attack the cancer. So some of these drugs are also called immunotherapies.

Researchers are looking at different types of targeted drugs and immunotherapies for womb cancer that has come back (recurrent womb cancer) or is advanced at diagnosis. They are looking at them on their own or in combination. The drugs they are looking at include:

  • cedarinib and olaparib
  • ceralasertib
  • pembrolizumab
  • lenvatinib
  • nintedanib
  • dostarlimab

Dostarlimab has recently become available on the NHS for some people with advanced or recurrent womb cancer. Dostarlimab is a type of immunotherapy. Doctors continue to collect information about how well this drug works and its side effects.

Clear cell cancer of the womb is a rare type of cancer. Researchers are looking into immunotherapy treatment for people who have already had chemotherapy. The immunotherapy they are looking at is called pembrolizumab. This targets and blocks a protein called PD-1. By doing this they hope it will help the body’s immune system to find and kill the cancer cells.  

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses anti cancer drugs to kill cancer cells. You usually have a combination of 2 drugs.

It is often a treatment you have if your cancer comes back after surgery. Researchers are looking into whether it can reduce the risk of cancer coming back after surgery. The researchers are looking at it for women who have an early stage cancer which is fast growing.

Other research

Biomarkers

Biomarkers are substances that doctors can measure in the body to help them tell how a disease is developing or how a treatment is working. Researchers are looking into whether measuring these biomarkers can help them work out which treatments will work for an individual and how well a treatment is working.

  • Endometrial Cancer
    Karen H. Lu and Russell R. Broaddus 
    New England Journal of Medicine, 2020, Vol 383, p:2053-64.

  • Endometrial cancer: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up
    N Colombo, E Preti, F Landoni and others
    Annals of Oncology, 2013, Vol 24 (Supplement 6)

  • Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Database
    Accessed October 2021

Last reviewed: 
10 Feb 2022
Next review due: 
18 Oct 2024

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