Endometrial cancer is the most common cancer of the female genital tract; it is about 1 ½ times more common than ovarian cancer, and 3 times more common than cancer of the cervix (cervical cancer). Endometrial cancer accounts for about 13% of all cancers in women; however, its prognosis is not too bad. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), it is estimated that 42,160 women were diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 2009; about 7,780 women died of it.
Based on cases diagnosed in 2002-2006 from 17 SEER (Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results) geographic areas, the age-adjusted incidence rate for endometrial cancer was 23.3 per 100,000 women per year. Incidence rates by race were approximately:
- 24.2 per 100,000 white women
- 20.3 per 100,000 black women
- 16.8 per 100,000 Asian/Pacific Islander women
- 16.3 per 100,000 American Indian/Alaska Native women
- 17.8 per 100,000 Hispanic women