What do Endometriosis & Cancer Have in Common?

Written by:  Soljourner

• Cancer is an abnormal proliferation of cells which have uncontrolled growth.  I think it's safe to say that's exactly what Endometriosis does.

• Cancer cells have the ability to grow into adjacent tissue and to spread to distant parts of the body.  Endometriosis is mainly within the pelvic area, but in rare instances, it has been found in the lungs and brain.  That would mean that Endometriosis is similar to Cancer in this way, as well.

• A mass of cancer cells will eventually become large enough to cause problems and to become detectable. This will produce a lump, mass, or tumor that can be detected.  Though not all women have experienced Endometriosis that has produced lumps, masses, or tumors - many women have - sometimes these Endometrial masses may reach the size of a grapefruit or even football & can easily be felt by the woman suffering from it!

• Bleeding is one of the signs of cancer.  It is also one of the symptoms of Endometriosis.

• Cancers can spread to other parts of the body. They can spread by direct extension and invasion into adjacent tissues or along the lining surfaces in the abdomen. Systemic spread throughout the body is by way of the blood stream or by way of the lymphatic vessels.  Sounds, to me, exactly like the theories that scientists believe about Endometriosis.

• The diagnosis of cancer usually requires that a tissue specimen be removed (biopsy) and sent to a pathologist.  The only way to diagnose Endometriosis is via a laparoscope (operation) where a bit of the suspected Endometriosis tissue is sent in to the lab for a biopsy (as well as the doctor visually examining the Endometriosis while performing the operation, if it is large enough to be seen via the naked eye).

• Stage refers to the extent of the cancer. Each cancer, by organ, has its own staging system. Staging can be designated by one of four stages: Stage I, II, III, or IV.  Just like Endometriosis.

• Surgery to remove the cancer will be curative only if the cancer is in one place and that place can be removed safely with an adequate margin of normal tissue and if the potential for spread elsewhere is low.  The same as for Endometriosis...if a doctor does not remove all of the Endometriosis, it will come back - even in women who have gotten hysterectomies!

• Many Cancers need hormones to grow.  So does Endometriosis.

• Lupron suppresses the hormones required for growth in cancer.  Lupron does the same to Endometriosis.

• Cancers cause problems because they grow and occupy space. They push on other structures and cause them to malfunction. They erode into other structures and bleed.  They can cause other structures to hurt because of the destruction or pressure on the normal structures. Cancers require energy to grow and rob the body of the energy it needs for normal function.  Bingo!  Endometriosis does exactly all these things!

• Some cancers are very predictable, others are not. Some cancers that would be expected to be easily cured are not. Some people live with their incurable untreatable cancers for years.  As with women who have Endometriosis.

How Cancer and Endometriosis are NOT similar:

• If the cancer is essentially incurable but is causing problems that can be remedied, then treatment for relief of symptoms is indicated. In this situation quality of life and not longevity is the goal.  Many women with Endometriosis are treated by friends, family members, co-workers, and doctors as if the Endometriosis is all in their heads.  Additionally; prescription pain relief, support, medical attention, health insurance, and even love have all been with held from many, many women who suffer from Endometriosis!

• You can die from Cancer.  I have not found any articles or evidence that you can physically die from Endometriosis unless it causes a hemorrhage or unless it causes other complications (example:  the adhesions you've gotten from all of those operations to remove the Endo have invaded many of your organs and are threatening to choke them off, rendering them useless & that the organs they've invaded can cause you to die if they don't function or that you have an ectopic pregnancy, caused by the Endo and resultant Adhesions, that bursts a tube and you die).  **Also; see bottom of this page for further references.

• Treatment is sometimes given even when all the cancer is thought to have been removed.  Sadly; this is very rarely the case for women who have Endometriosis.  Most often; they are given the 'wait and see' approach while nothing is being done.

• Lupron is used in many men receiving neoplastic (Cancer) therapy.  Lupron is used by women who have Endometriosis.  

• Cancer has major research, funding, and support going for it.  Endometriosis is largely left ignored despite the fact that millions of women suffer from it!

• Cancer can affect both men and women of all ages.  Endometriosis can affect women of all ages (it is beginning to be noted as early as the first menstrual period up to 70+ years of age; in a woman).

Why researching this article really bugs me:

1. Because there's more information out there about Cancer than there is for Endometriosis.

2. Because almost everybody has heard of the word Cancer and many people know someone who has been diagnosed with it, whereas, not many people have even heard of Endometriosis!

3. Because there is funding for research on Cancer and there's nobody, out there, really fighting for me and all of those millions of other women who suffer from Endometriosis.

4. Because, typically, men do not suffer from Endometriosis but they do get Cancer - makes me wonder if Endometriosis would get more publicity and attention both by the medical community as well as our general society; if men could get it!

5. Because Cancer is taken more seriously, as a disease, because it is life-altering and potentially deadly - just like Endometriosis can be; only many women are told that it's a normal thing or that their Endometriosis is all in their heads.  I ask you, if you know someone with Cancer, would you doubt their disease or their level of suffering?  If not; then how can you doubt the level of suffering in a woman who has been diagnosed with Endometriosis and still feel like a decent human being?

6. Because if a man complains of his penis hurting; no doctor in their right mind would suggest cutting it off (male castration), while hysterectomies (female castration) are being routinely done on women with Endometriosis & society doesn't even blink an eye!!!  In fact; even family and friends expect the woman to go about her business as if nothing, basically, has happened and if she complains of this or that; she is just considered emotional.

7. Because recent studies are proving that women with Endometriosis ARE at much higher risk for Cancer than average women.

8. Because maybe Endometriosis IS Cancer - just a different kind - or, at the very least, that maybe it's a different form of pre-cancer due to the environmental toxins dumped upon us?

9. Because if Endometriosis really is a different form of Cancer (since it IS so similar to Cancer); then how come nobody's offering me (and millions of other women who suffer from Endo.) any sort of treatment, counseling, support, and glimmers of hope that Cancer patients receive?

10. Because I have finally realized, after 16 years of suffering from Endometriosis, that I have an incurable disease that I will have to figure out how to live with for the rest of my life and that there really is nobody out there going to bat for me except for other Endo sufferers.

My Conclusion:

I conclude that Endometriosis probably is a disease that will eventually prove just as serious as Cancer...when science catches up, that is.  You know how something isn't proven to be a scientific fact unless it's physically proven?  Well; it's my belief that the effects of the environmental toxins are just now rearing their ugly heads in the form of Endometriosis in women, as the female reproductive area is highly sensitive.  These ideas will more than likely be proven in the years to come.

As a matter of fact; science is just now beginning to see the correlation between Endometriosis and Cancer and I'll bet that within the next 20 (or so) years; maybe a gene marker will have been discovered or some kind of connection made between the two diseases.

But, from my point of view, common sense tells me that this is no good and that as time goes on; things will worsen - that just because I am not a scientist and cannot prove what I feel, doesn't mean that my common sense is wrong, too.

I sincerely hope that the world pays more attention to Endometriosis.  I believe that it is a side-effect of something much bigger.  Whatever that thing is; it is affecting women in the form of Endometriosis.  Very possibly; genes will be mutated so that things will be passed along from generation to generation and by that time; who knows (many of you have heard of the Oxygene Study)!

But I do know that Endo is a serious disease and I probably wouldn't have cared to know, except that I have it and know what it's like.  And I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

In closing, I must say that from a patient's point of view, I now feel that I have strong evidence to support my general fear of and paranoia about getting Cancer....as if having Endometriosis is that much different, right?

Peace,

Soljourner

**References to "you can die of Cancer" (above):

A woman had an "ovarian cyst" identified at her booking scan. She had a history of endometriosis and had been receiving treatment for infertility. The cyst increased in size and was reported to be 10 cm at 30 weeks' gestation. During her pregnancy she started to complain of crippling abdominal pain and backache which was ascribed to an "exaggerated form of pelvic pain associated with pregnancy". Two weeks later, following the patient's insistence that she could tolerate the pain no longer, an elective caesarean section was performed at her request and the left ovary was noted to be slightly enlarged. The Pouch of Douglas was also obliterated by adhesions. After delivery the patient went into urinary retention and an X-ray revealed bilateral lytic lesions in her pubic rami with a pathological fracture. Biopsies confirmed widespread metastatic carcinomatosis, which was thought to have been ovarian in origin.

This is substandard care. The fact that she required support to help her move around at home and was brought to later antenatal appointments in a wheelchair clearly demonstrated abnormal pain which should have been investigated further. Such investigations could certainly have included an X-ray of the spine, or better, an MRI.

As well as the clinical substandard care in this case, where the patient was clearly suffering intolerable pain, there were also deficiencies in the pathological investigation of the tumour. No autopsy was performed and several opportunities were lost to convert speculation about the cause into fact. The disease was centred on the pelvis, and therefore probably genital in origin, especially since the bladder was clear; the cervix and vagina were not the primary source; the carcinoma was squamous and she had a history of endometriosis, with the ovarian cyst having been originally diagnosed as an endometrioma. In the opinion of the Central Pathology Assessor it was most likely to be a carcinoma arising in endometriosis. These can occasionally be pure squamous neoplasms.  More here.....

Links of interest and pertaining to my article:

Are we at higher risk for cancer? - this article says we are!

PURPOSE: To investigate the occurrence of ovarian cancer (OC) arising in ovarian endometriosis (OE) diagnosed in our laboratory, and the relation of the disease to patient age. METHODS: Histopathological reports were reviewed in cases of endometriosis and ovarian cancer diagnosed between 1982 and 1989 and in 1997. The occurrence of OE and OC was studied in relation to patient age. RESULTS: Of the 796 OE cases, 36 (4.5%) ovarian cancers were found in the eight-year period, and of the 216 OC cases 36 (16.7%) were associated with OE; 12 patients (1.7%) were under 50 years old and 24 (22.9%) were over 50. In 1997 there were 168 cases of OE, and 4 cases were associated with OC. Of the 60 OC cases 4 cases arose in endometriosis. Two patients were over 50 and two under 50. CONCLUSION: In our report the occurrence of OC arising in OE was most influenced by patient age, the extent of sampling and the consistency of histologic reports about the presence of endometriosis in ovarian adenocarcinoma.  From here...

Microscopic picture is identical to that of carcinoma of the endometrium and in 15-20% of cases benign endometriosis can be found adjacent to the malignant cancer suggesting origin from the benign counterpart.  Here's the rest...

Wonder Drug for Men Alleged to Cause Harm in Women - three part serious about  Lupron.

Statistics on the incidence of this disease [Endometriosis] world wide is still lacking. But endometriosis appears to be on the rise in the US, where it afflicts 10-20% of women of childbearing age. Prior to 1921, there were only 20 reports of the disease in world wide medical literature. German researchers report that women with endometriosis have higher levels of PCBs in their blood than women who do not suffer from this disease. Animal studies indicate that endometriosis is closely linked with exposure to dioxin. . (WEDO, Greenpeace, 1998).  More.....

The levels of dioxin in the monkeys that developed endometriosis were about five to ten times that. And if I tell you that the level that you and I have is ten parts per trillion, that is the mean of the population. There are people in the population who are much higher than the mean, just within the distribution of the normal population, and that is not talking about populations which we know are heavily exposed.  I think the endometriosis result is of concern because we know endometriosis is a disorder not only of the hormone system, but also it is related to immune dysfunction. And one of the things that dioxin does is mess up the immune system.  More.....

Putting the Lid on Dioxin - an article about a cancer-causing substance that has also been linked to causing Endometriosis.

Read the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan with regards to endocrine disruptors (how toxins affect our health and environment and what they plan to do about it - Endometriosis is mentioned!).  Is a PDF document, just so you know.  Click here to download & view it.

There is another important aspect of the problem. That women’s health can be used as indicator of the state of the environment, is a perspective not often taken. But increasingly well-documented evidence support the fact that women (and consequently children) are the first to experience the effects of environmental degradation.  More...

Together, endometriosis and fibroids are associated with half of the more than 580,000 hysterectomies performed in the United States each year. Other causes include cancer, excessive bleeding or pain, and uterine prolapse. One woman in three over the age of 60 has had a hysterectomy, and it is the second most commonly performed surgical procedure in the nation.  More...