Endometrial cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women worldwide (and the 14th most common cancer overall). Around 320,000 new cases were recorded in 2012.

It is mainly a disease of high-income countries, where the highest incidence of endometrial cancer is in North America, and Central and Eastern Europe; and the lowest incidence in Middle and Western Africa.

Age-adjusted rates of endometrial cancer are increasing in countries undergoing transition from low- to high-income economies; although there is no clear, overall trend in high-income countries.

Endometrial cancer often produces symptoms at relatively early stages, so the disease is generally diagnosed early. The overall 5-year survival rate is relatively high, although it is lower in middle- than in high-income countries. For example in the US, the 5-year relative survival rate (which compares the 5-year survival of people with the cancer to the survival of others the same age who don’t have cancer) for all endometrial cancer cases is about 69%.

Endometrial cancer accounts for just under 1 per cent of all cancer deaths (2 per cent of cancer deaths in women).