The usual symptom of the most common type of uterine cancer is abnormal or heavy bleeding. This bleeding may be red blood like a menstrual period, or may be very scant. Some women describe their symptoms as “staining” and some experience only a brown discharge on their underpants or mini-pad. If a post-menopausal woman experiences these symptoms, she should go to her gynecologist. In the pre-menopause, a woman might experience more heavy menses or bleeding between periods as a symptom of endometrial cancer.
However, other symptoms that may be present include the development of a blood-tinged vaginal discharge, pain with sex, pain with making urine, abdominal swelling (or bloating), or constipation. Persisting symptoms should be brought to the attention of your doctor as soon as possible. These symptoms are generally seen in adenocarcinomas of the uterus. Sometimes, the sarcomas will present with bloating or a rapidly growing pelvic mass. Women with a rare type of uterine cancer called gesta-tional trophoblast neoplasia (GTN) will usually have a positive pregnancy test as their first sign of a problem.
When there is a lack of a fetus by an ultrasound or serial human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) blood levels are abnormally increasing, GTN must be ruled out.
Joan said: I only experienced a slight vaginal discharge. I am post menopausal so it wasn’t anything “normal” and I knew I had to have it checked out. I had no other indications of something going on but I knew I had to have it checked out promptly.