Sorry to hear that you're going through this. I'm sending good wishes your way.

"Serous" is a "type" of endometrial cancer and also a type of ovarian cancer, along with "endometrioid", "clear cell" and a few others. The type is determined by a pathologist looking at the cells from the cancer specimen under a microscope. Different types look different from each other. The type can be determined from a small specimen, such as a biopsy.

The "stage" refers to how far the cancer appears to have spread. They can only tell what the stage is after they do a CT and/or PET scan, and also test the hysterectomy specimen for whether there is cancer in places other than inside the uterus (or ovaries if it's ovarian cancer), such as the outside the uterus, lymph nodes, or the fallopian tubes. If the cancer is confined to the site where it originated, that's stage 1. The higher the stage, the further it has spread.

Hi @conkea, it can all get so confusing. I really like the plain English explanation @val64 gave of the types of uterine cancer and the stage of uterine cancer.

We have several other members who also have serous adenocarcinoma, which can affect ovaries or the uterus. You may wish to read this related discussion:
- Serous adenocarcinoma: What does it mean? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/serous-carcinoma/

Conkea, when will you have the hysterectomy? How are you feeling about it? Any questions for women who have been there?

Your gyno is correct about the stage being determined after pathology has dissected the womb. However, the biopsy will tell the GRADR of the tumor, which means how fast it grows. Prayers and hugs!