Womb disease 'could raise the risk of cancers'

Endometriosis increases the chances of developing ovarian and some other cancers by around one-third.

The risk of brain tumours, skin cancer and breast cancer also goes up, according to the research published yesterday.

There is no cure for endometriosis and it can make sufferers infertile – and women can wait up to nine years for a correct diagnosis.

Scroll down for more...

It affects up to a quarter of women of reproductive age, with singer Louise Redknapp and TV presenter AntheaTurner among sufferers.

Endometriosis causes cells found in the womb lining to attach themselves to other parts of the pelvic area.

This causes internal bleeding in the pelvis that leads to pain, inflammation, lesions, scar tissue and infertility.

Doctors at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm looked at data from 63,630 women discharged from hospital with endometriosis between 1969 and 2002.

They found almost 4,000 cases of cancer among the women and analysed the extra risk linked to different types of cancer.

The risk of developing ovarian cancer rose by 37 per cent compared with women who did not have endometriosis.

There were similar increases in risk for endocrine tumours (38 per cent), kidney cancer (36 per cent)and thyroid cancer (33 per cent).

The chances of developing brain tumours went up 27 per cent and for skin cancer the increase was 23 per cent, with breast cancer risk rising by eight per cent.

Details from the study were released yesterday at the annual meeting of the European Societyof Human Reproduction and Embryology in Lyon, France.

Dr Anna-Sofia Melin who led the study said they did not know how the disease can lead to an increase in cancers.

One suggestion is that defects in the immune system that allow the endometriosis to grow also might allow cancer cells to grow.

"Maybe the treatment of endometriosis, hormonal or surgical, can influence cancer development. We do not know yet," she said.

A survey of sufferers discovered the average time to get a diagnosis was nine years.

Half of women said their GP and the medical profession did not take the condition seriously.

Dr Melin said: "Our hope is that doctors in general start to view endometriosis as a serious disease that causes a lot of suffering to the patient and also may lead to cancer."

Mary Lou Ballweg, of the Endometriosis Association, said:

"Many doctors, and even women, don't take the pain seriously. Women need to be seeing a specialist to ensure they are getting the best possible help."