Incidence of Gynecologic Cancers
Information from the California Department of Health Services, Cancer Detection Section

Nationally, the most recent (2003) figures from the American Cancer Society (ACS) showed that 83,700 women would be diagnosed with one of six gynecologic cancers: ovarian, cervical, uterine, fallopian tubes, vagina, and vulva in the next year.

The ACS figures showed an expected 40,100 new cases of uterine cancer, 25,400 cases of ovarian cancer and 12,200 of cancer of the cervix. Although ovarian cancer ranks second among gynecologic cancers in the number of new cases each year, it causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system.

In California, an estimated 8,380 new cases and 2,635 deaths would be attributable to gynecologic cancers, according to California Cancer Facts & Figures (2003). It was projected these cancers would account for 13 percent of all new cases of cancer and 10 percent of the cancer deaths among California women in 2003.

Incidence rates for cancer of the vulva, vagina, and fallopian tubes are very low. According to ACS, in 2003 approximately 535 California women would be diagnosed and 135 women would die from one of these three cancers.
The California Cancer Registry figures for the five-year period 1995-1999 indicate that the number of new cases of invasive gynecologic cancer was highest for uterine (17,647), followed by ovarian (12,715) and cervical (8,358). Of the six gynecologic cancers, uterine cancer had the highest incidence at 43 percent and ovarian had the highest mortality at 54 percent.

Hispanic/Latina women had the highest incidence of cervical cancer when compared to all other ethnic groups. Mortality due to cervical cancer was disproportionately higher among African American women compared to other ethnic groups. Non-Hispanic white women had the highest incidence rates for uterine cancer.

Effective screening tools are available only for cervical cancer, while reliable diagnostic procedures exist only for cervical and uterine cancers. The Pap test is highly effective in detecting cervical cancer and its precursors, but not for detecting the other five gynecologic cancers. Ovarian cancer is difficult to detect early because when symptoms do occur, they are often vague and may seem unrelated to the disease itself.

For this reason, women are advised to know the warning signs for gynecologic cancers and to have regular checkups that include a recto-vaginal pelvic examination and a Pap test throughout their adult lives.