Hyperplasia

Hi Hedgiebear,

Thank you for getting in touch, welcome to our Online Community. My name is Fiona and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists here on the Macmillan Support Line.

I’m sorry to hear that you’re going through all this. It’s always a worry when we develop signs and symptoms of something not being right.

As you may already be aware, there are many conditions that can cause endometrial hyperplasia (womb thickening), with cancer being only one of them. The main cause of endometrial hyperplasia is an overproduction of oestrogen without the correct balance of progesterone available.

The biopsies that your gynaecologist has taken will show either cells that have hyperplasia without atypia (so have no abnormal cells detected) or that abnormal cells have been seen (atypical hyperplasia). These are not cancerous cells however studies show that there can be up to a 28% risk (28 people out of 100) that may develop into a cancer in the future if left untreated.

Occasionally, biopsies can show the presence of an endometrial cancer over and above the hyperplasia.

The results can take anything between 4 to 6 weeks to come back from pathology, however we find that they tend to be available much earlier than that. You are likely to get a call inviting you to an appointment with your gynaecologist to discuss them and talk through a treatment plan, which might include further tests, such as an MRI scan.

Try and take this one step at a time. You may find it helpful to consider ways to ease your worry whilst waiting for the results of your results and your appointment.  Some people also find it helps to talk though their concerns, so please do ring us if you think this would help. 

I hope this information helps to guide you.

Best wishes,

Fiona S

Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

Ref: FS/KS