‘I never thought it was cancer:’ A survey highlights gaps in gynecological warning signs

A new survey reveals a dangerous gap in women's knowledge of gynecologic cancer symptoms. The poll found 80% of women lack awareness of endometrial cancer signs

Three years ago, Jennifer Pride of Toronto made an appointment with her doctor because she was concerned about some symptoms.

“I had some abnormal bleeding and I thought, OK, this isn’t normal,” Pride said.

“I had an appointment with my doctor for something else, mentioned to him that I had this bleeding and because I’d gone through menopause several years earlier, he says, ‘yeah, this isn’t good.’”

After a series of tests, Pride was diagnosed with Grade 2 uterine cancer, otherwise known as endometrial cancer. Grade 2 means that cancer cells are growing at a moderate rate, so the cancer was caught relatively early.

“The initial reaction was, ‘Oh my God’,” she said.

“I guess I went through a lot of the emotions, and I thought, ‘OK, now we’re going to deal with this.’”

Pride underwent a hysterectomy to prevent further spread.

“They would remove the ovaries, uterus, the fallopian tubes, and they removed the lymph nodes on either side ... to make sure that there was no spread,” she said.

Now, she is cancer-free and healthy. Reflecting on that time in her life, Pride said she never would have guessed that her symptoms were signs of cancer.

“When I first saw the bleeding, I knew something wasn’t right, but I didn’t think it was to the extreme that it was going to be,” she said.

A widespread lack of awareness

A recent study conducted by Leger, commissioned through GSK Canada, asked 1,510 Canadian women various gynecological questions.

Gynecological cancers include ovarian, endometrial (uterine), cervical, vaginal and vulvar cancers, and impact thousands of women every year. Nearly 60 per cent of survey respondents expressed uncertainty about whether gynecological cancers exhibit early warning signs.

Additionally, 80 per cent said they lack awareness of the symptoms and risk factors of endometrial cancer, also known as uterine cancer.

The survey said that last year, 8,600 Canadian women were diagnosed – and 1,600 died – from the disease. It added that endometrial cancer is expected to become the second most diagnosed cancer among Canadian women within the next 15 years.

An oncologist’s warning

Dr. Luisa Bonilla is a medical oncologist at the Shirley and Jim Fielding Northeast Cancer Centre who treats the majority of gynecologic malignancy patients at Health Sciences North.

Bonilla said that despite the small survey numbers, a lack of awareness is common when it comes to recognizing the warning signs.

“It happens very frequently that women consult late,” she said.

“The importance of early diagnosis for any type of gynecologic malignancy is essential because there is a significant difference in prognosis when the patients are diagnosed early.”

Bonilla said there are lots of reasons for this.

“I do think that there is a cultural component there,” she said.

“Women have the disadvantage that medicine has been written in the past by men. And now we are learning that we women have a completely different type of symptom presentation for any type of disease.”

Know your body and advocate for yourself

Bonilla recommends that patients know their bodies to recognize when something is wrong.

“Any type of abnormal bleeding, abnormal discharge or pelvic pain that doesn’t go away,” she said.

“Perhaps if it’s three weeks on and it really doesn’t change. That’s a reason for consulting for ovarian cancer. Similarly, I would say, patients usually report abnormal bowel movements or weight changes.”

Bonilla added that it’s important to know your family history and speak to your doctor if something is wrong.

“I think that there’s also the stereotypes, right, that, when women come in, consult and they consult, again and again, they are told to that, you know, their symptoms are in their head, that, they tend to be gaslighted,” she said.

Pride, meanwhile, said she’s grateful her cancer was caught early.

“I’ve lost friends to cancer. I lost my mom to cancer. So, I know what that’s like and how it could turn out,” she said.

“I thank God that I am one of the very lucky ones.”