Women Undergoing Hysterectomy Face Increased Risk of Uterine Cancer

Women undergoing hysterectomy procedure may be exposed to a hidden risk of uterine cancer.

The study led by the Columbia University Medical Center found that 27 in every 10,0000 women - who underwent the invasive hysterectomy using power morcellation - were diagnosed with uterine cancer at the time of procedure. 

Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus. It is done to treat problems linked with periods, pelvic pain, tumors and other conditions.

Of late, there has been a growing concern on this procedure as the uterus is fragmented into smaller pieces that eventually lead to the spread of undetected malignancies.  

Electric morcellators have been commercially available for the past two decades, but the background information reveals that, there is a lack of accurate data on the prevalence of malignancy at the time of electric morcellation.

The study was led by Jason D Wright, MD, assistant professor of women's health at the University. To investigate the prevalence of the underlying cancer in women who underwent the procedure, the team used a large insurance database. The evaluation included using a database of over 500 hospitals, having 15 percent hospitalization.

"Although morcellators have been in use since 1993, few studies have described the prevalence of unexpected pathology at the time of hysterectomy. Prevalence information is the first step in determining the risk of spreading cancer with morcellation," the authors wrote. "Patients considering morcellation should be adequately counseled about the prevalence of cancerous and precancerous conditions prior to undergoing the procedure."

Evaluation of the data revealed that among 232,882 women, who underwent the procedure of invasive hysterectomy from 2006-2012, morcellation was performed in nearly 15.7 percent of them.

Among the women who underwent morcellation, the researchers identified 99 cases of uterine cancer i.e. 27/10000 prevalence. Those who underwent morcellation, advanced age was linked with underlying cancer and endometrial hyperplasia, condition characterized by overgrowth of uterus lining.

The study was published in JAMA-Journal of the American Medical Association.