• Vaginal discharge or bleeding that is not normal for you.

• Bleeding may be abnormal because of how heavy it is or when it happens, such as after you have gone through menopause and between periods.

• Bleeding is never normal after your periods stop.

• Premenopausal reproductive age people who do not have regular monthly periods or who have excessive duration and/or quantity of bleeding each month should also be evaluated by a gynecologist as these can be symptoms of uterine cancer.

• Other symptoms include pain or pressure in your pelvis, increasing abdominal girth, increasing urinary frequency, or difficulty passing stool. These symptoms can sometimes be associated with an enlarging uterus.

If you have bleeding that is not normal for you, especially if you have already gone through menopause, or have any one of these symptoms listed above for more than two weeks in any month, see your doctor, preferably a gynecologist, right away. These symptoms may be caused by something other than cancer, but the only way to know is to see your doctor.

There is no way to know for sure if you will get uterine cancer. Some women get it without being at high risk. However, several factors may increase the chance that you will get uterine cancer, including if you:

• Are older than 50.

• Have obesity.

• Take estrogen by itself (without progesterone) for hormone replacement during menopause.

• Have had trouble getting pregnant or have had fewer than five periods in a year before starting menopause.

• Take tamoxifen, a drug used to prevent and treat certain types of breast cancer.

• Have close family members who have had uterine, colon, or ovarian cancer.

• Have a genetic mutation (change) that raises your risk, including BRCA1 or BRCA2, or one associated with Lynch syndrome. Note that only 5-10% of endometrial cancers are the result of an inherited mutation

There are no screening tests for uterine cancer in women who do not have any signs or symptoms. The Pap test does not screen for uterine cancer, it screens for cervical cancer.

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Screening is when a test is used to look for a disease before there are any symptoms. Diagnostic tests are used when a person starts having symptoms. The purpose of diagnostic tests is to find out, or diagnose, what is causing the symptoms. Diagnostic tests also may be used to check a person who is considered at high risk for cancer.

Since there is no simple and reliable way to screen for any gynecologic cancers except cervical cancer, it is especially important to recognize warning signs and learn what you can do to reduce your risk.

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If you have symptoms, your doctor may perform an endometrial biopsy or a transvaginal ultrasound. These tests can be used to help diagnose or rule out uterine cancer. This test may be done in your doctor’s office, or you may be referred to another doctor. The doctor might perform more tests if the endometrial biopsy does not provide enough information, or if symptoms continue.