Can I Be Cured of Uterine Cancer?

It’s normal to worry about what uterine cancer will mean for you and your family. You may have questions such as these: What are my chances of being cured? How long will I live? The answers to these questions are called your prognosis. Your prognosis is the likely outcome of your cancer. Your doctor looks at some of these outcomes when making your prognosis.

• Your chance of being cured from cancer, called recovery

• Your chance of having the cancer come back, called recurrence

• Your chance of dying from the cancer

To make your prognosis, your doctor will use these facts.

• The typical outcome for women with uterine cancer. The average of all these experiences makes up uterine cancer statistics.

• Your doctor’s experiences with other women who have uterine cancer

• Your own case. This includes the type, stage, and grade of your cancer, your general health, whether you’ve had cancer before, and your age.

Ask your doctor to help you understand what the statistics may mean for you. Keep in mind that even your doctor cannot tell you exactly what will happen. Your prognosis may even change over time if the cancer progresses or if treatment is successful.

Some women feel less frightened when they learn about their prognosis. Some use this information to help them make decisions about tests or treatments. For others, a prognosis is confusing, scary, and too impersonal to be of use. It’s your choice how much information to accept and how to deal with it.

It makes some sense to plan for every possibility when you’re facing a serious disease such as cancer. Still, don’t allow statistics to dictate your future. There are women who have outlived their doctor’s predictions. Your prognosis gives a perspective, but it is not etched in stone. Try to focus your thoughts on the tens of thousands of women who have survived uterine cancer. You may be one of them.