What is uterine cancer?
Uterine cancer occurs when cells in the uterus grow and divide in an abnormal, uncontrolled way. Approximately 95% of uterine cancers are endometrial cancers that start in the lining of the uterus (endometrium). The less common form of uterine cancer is uterine sarcomas that start in cells of the muscle (muometrium) and connective tissue (stroma) of the uterus.
You can access further information about uterine cancer, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from Cancer Council Victoria. You can also call our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about our range of services for people affected by cancer.
The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web portal, Data Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published here.
How common is uterine cancer?
In 2022, 813 Victorian females were diagnosed with uterine cancer. Currently, uterine cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 14.4 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of uterine cancer is 64 (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 2.2% of all cancers diagnosed and 1.4% of all cancer-related deaths in 2022, uterine cancer was the 5th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 9th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victorian females.
Trends in uterine cancer over time
For females between 1982 to 2022 the incidence of uterine cancer increased by an average of 0.9% per year.
For females between 1982 to 1999 the mortality of uterine cancer declined by an average of 2.5% per year, and between 1999 to 2022 mortality increased by an average of 1.6% per year.
Uterine cancer morphology
Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells (morphology) which have caused uterine cancer among all cases. Most uterine cancer tumours, 73.6%, present as Endometrioid carcinoma tumours.
Uterine cancer subtypes
Figure 5 provides a breakdown of uterine cancer by subsite location in 2022. Most (98.8%) are found in the Endometrium section of the uterus.
Geographical variance in uterine cancer by local government area
Figure 5 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates of uterine cancer, by local government areas. Darker shading indicates areas with higher rates of uterine cancer.
Uterine cancer in people born overseas
Figure 7 shows the age standardised incidence rates of uterine cancer in Australian-born Victorian females compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2017 to 2021. The highest age standardised incidence rate of 17.8 was observed in those born in the Southern Europe region and lowest rate of 6.9 was observed in people born in the South and Central America region.
Uterine cancer five-year relative survival
Figure 8 shows the change in 5-year survival for uterine cancer, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for uterine cancer between 1982-1986 and 2017-2021 from 75% to 83%.
