How rare is endometrial cancer in virgins?

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Does she have a treatment plan?

Cancers of the cervix, vulva, and vagina are associated with infection with HPV (human papilloma virus), which is sexually transmitted. HPV doesn't have anything to do with endometrial cancer. However, two factors that are known to increase risk for endometrial cancer are never having been pregnant and being overweight. A paper from 1969 that I found on Google says that 63 percent of gynecological cancer deaths in nuns were from uterine cancer.

@val64 Thank you so much for your answer! Yes, she does have a treatment plan: hysterectomy, then chemo, followed by radiotherapy and possibly brachytherapy. I guess we have to wait for surgery and then biopsy to see what actually "fed" her cancer. I'll post as soon as she has the result from her biopsy. Keep her in your prayers! Thank you again!

Hello, everyone. I have news about my friend with endometrial cancer. She managed to get over hysterectomy well and she even got her biopsy and IHC test results. Her tumor is 70% estrogen positive. What does this mean? She has been told, again, by her doctor, that her obesity was to blame for her terrible illness. Thank you all!

@ioana2022 Obesity is a risk factor for endometrial cancer but it’s not a “cause”. I hope that her doctor did not say “obesity is to blame” because such a statement could result in undue guilt and emotional distress. Not every woman who is overweight develops endometrial cancer. Obesity does place a person at a risk for a variety of diseases.

I had two risk factors for endometrial cancer. 1) never given birth; 2) menopause at a later age. I know of friends who have these two risk factors and did not develop endometrial cancer.

Estrogen played a role in the development of your friend’s cancer. Here something to read that explains this:

Estrogen-Dependent Cancers (Cleveland Clinic):

— https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/10312-estrogen-dependent-cancers

Does this help answer your questions?

@naturegirl5 Thank you so much for your answer. My friend was 37 when her symptoms appeared, a virgin, overweight (not because of eating habits but after treatment for insomnia and anxiety with olanzapine that had caused many health problems such as hyperglycemia, high cholesterol, blood pressure issues and the list goes on), she did not have PCOS, she was not going through menopause, not even perimenopause. Her first period was around the age of 13. She never had any problems with her period until the age of 37, when her weight was 80 kg, after having weighed 45 kg her entire adult life at a height of 160 cm. Her doctor tried to find a possible explanation for her illness but it is true that this caused a lot of stress. She managed to find a study published in August 2022 that shows a possible link between antipsychotics, olanzapine included, and endometrial cancer. And that caused even more stress because her weight and health issues appeared after treatment with olanzapine that she is now trying to let go of, which is extremely difficult after many years of treatment. She started taking olanzapine at the age of 31 and at 37 she was obese and with cancer. This is what caused her distress. Thank you again for your answer.

@ioana2022 Your friend has really been through such tough times. There are several medications for mental health including olanzapine that are known for weight gain. It’s truly a balance and weighing out the risks/costs vs. Benefits of these medications. If a person has difficulty functioning in their daily life and the medications are helping then what to do? This deserves a long series of discussions with the prescribing physician since obesity as you’ve described it can certainly present even more health risks. Please share the information with your friend that obesity did not “cause” the cancer. It was a risk factor. Your friend is recovering from a surgical procedure and was diagnosed with cancer. She doesn’t need the added the burden of guilt about her weight. It might be time to discuss her medications with her psychiatrist and see if there is something else that she can take that will help her to lose the weight and treat the reason she was prescribed the antipsychotic medication. What do you think? Can you help her with that?

@naturegirl5 Thank you again for your answer. My friend lost all the weight because of her illness. She couldn't eat anymore, she was sick all the time and she lost the weight. She weighs now 52 kg and is planning to stay that way. She saw a psychiatrist, a different one than the one that gave her olanzapine in the first place because that one passed away. The psychiatrist that she saw now told her that she never needed olanzapine in the first place because it was the wrong treatment. It never helped her. It only caused problems. She tried to get a second opinion. The second psychiatrist told her that we "all" have mental problems, that she is now unfortunatelly addicted, that she has to take it all her life, that none of her pacients ever got rid of olanzapine and without offering a real reason or diagnosis, the psychiatrist offered her a recipe for olanzapine. She refused. She is fed up with doctors. Before the cancer diagnosis, her gynecologist told her that she had endometriosis. And even if she was bleeding heavily with huge blood clots it was normal at her age. She has been in the hospital 4 times, in different cities, trying to find an answer, a cause to what was happening to her. Two of the times she was rushed with the ambulance during the night because she bled until she fainted. She had enough of doctors! Enough! She asked in the four times that she was in the hospital, "are you sure it is not cancer?". Nooooo, she has been told, it is just a fibroma. The fourth time she was in the hospital, one of the nurses that saw how desperate she was, gave her the phone number of a surgeon that saved her daughter's life many years ago. Her daughter had breast cancer. That is how my friend managed to get to the doctor that performed her hysterectomy and saved her life. She wasted precious time and suffered. A lot! She was stage 3. Currently in remission. Having someone to talk to like you really helps her. I thank you on her behalf.

I am so glad your friend has come through the surgery and has had your support, @ioana2022. She is truly blessed to have you for a friend! And, what a whirlwind of conflicting medical/psychiatric advice! I really feel for your friend and her struggle. I am interested in this thread as I have a sibling contemplating withdrawal from this antipsychotic given the additional risk of endometrial cancer in our family and the obesity this causes. I have managed to find a private center in Arizona that supports safe withdrawal from anti-psychotics. It was not hard to find online. Their website states that they accept most PPO insurance plans. It’s not clear to me that your friend resides in the US, so there may be other options closer to her. I wish her clear and reliable information and safe guidance and support to reach her goals. Thank you, again, for what you are doing!

@gynosaur42 Thank you for your reply. Unfortunatelly, my friend does not reside in the US. And no, there are no places like that where we come from. She has decided to ask for help from an old friend, a retired psychiatrist, with a lot of experience in this field. She managed to find him on Facebook after losing touch for many, many years. He moved town a long time ago. She has tried to stop taking olanzapine 3 times, the withdrawal symptoms were terrible. And she never needed it in the first place because her anxiety and insomnia were always there. She reduced the dosage and is taking it every other day and it seems to be working so far. And for her anxiety she is taking a supplement with magnesium, B6, ashwagandha and rhodiola and it is helping her more than olanzapine ever did. With her insomnia, too. She has the support of her oncologist, who knows the whole story. And of her family and friends. But she still feels angry for all those things that she has been through. She didn't know that she was going to gain weight, her psychiatrist never told her in the beginning and when he did, it was too late to do something about it. The weight was there. She even went to a nutritionist, she tried to lose the weight, it was impossible. Out of more than 22 000 surgeries performed by her surgeon, he has never seen a case like hers, because she also had colon cancer, because her cancer unfortunatelly spread to her colon, so she also went through colon resection, during the same surgery. And as if that was not enough, she had to have her gallbladder taken out too, because of her high cholesterol, she had some pretty big stones in there. She never had any serious health issues before taking olanzapine! And now she knows a lot of things about antipsychotics, because one of her childhood friends passed away after a diabetic coma, she developped diabetes after taking antipsychotics for several years. She wishes that some doctors would just pay more attention in school and studies! She has also decided to write a book about her experience, to help others. No names or poiting fingers, just facts. She has discovered the wonderful community here and is extremely grateful for that! Where we come from, there is basically no support for cancer pacients, no money for treatments, one has to find a way to survive. Thank you for your kind words, she feels blessed to have discovered you all here! God bless!

Sigh...I knew that resource was a long-shot. It sounds like your friend is tremendously creative and resourceful in finding ways to get her needs met. I am always taking recommendations by physicians and other providers and then researching what else I can do, while avoiding side effects, etc. I honor her willingness to write a book so that others can learn from her experiences and discoveries. I send my best wishes and faith that she will sort this out. If I hear anything from my sibling that might help I'll post again.