Skip to main content
Home
  • Affected by Cancer
  • Healthy Living
  • Clinical Best Practice
  • Research & Data
  • Publications & Resources
  • About Us
  • Home
  • Affected by Cancer
    • What is cancer
    • Cancer A-Z
    • Cancer statistics
    • Interactive body map
    • Check your cancer risk online
    • Treatment
    • Living with cancer
    • Life after cancer
    • For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
    • Cancer support organisations
    • Australian cancer trials
    • Jeannie Ferris Award
    • Information about cancer and COVID-19
    • Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Resources
    • Bladder cancer
    • Bowel cancer
    • Brain cancer
    • Breast cancer
    • Breast cancer in men
    • Breast cancer in young women
    • Cervical cancer
    • Children's Cancer
    • Endometrial cancer
    • Fallopian cancer
    • Gestational trophoblastic disease
    • Gynaecological cancers
    • Head and neck cancer
    • Kidney cancer
    • Leukaemia
    • Liver cancer
    • Lung cancer
    • Lymphoma
    • Melanoma of the skin
    • Mesothelioma cancer
    • Myeloma
    • Neuroendocrine tumours
    • Oesophageal cancer
    • Ovarian cancer
    • Pancreatic cancer
    • Prostate cancer
    • Sarcoma
    • Stomach cancer
    • Testicular cancer
    • Thyroid cancer
    • Unknown primary
    • Uterine sarcoma
    • Vaginal cancer
    • Vulval cancer
  • Healthy Living
    • Lifestyle & risk reduction
    • Screening
  • Clinical Best Practice
    • Cancer types
    • Psychosocial care
    • Multidisciplinary care
    • Cancer learning
    • Australian cancer trials
    • Consumer engagement
    • Shared follow-up care
  • Research & Data
    • Research
    • Grants and funding
    • Support for clinical trials
    • Cancer data
  • Publications & Resources
    • Cancer Australia publications
    • Position statements
    • Clinical Practice Guidelines
    • Cancer Australia websites
    • Cancer risk online tools
    • Other tools and resources
    • Podcasts
    • Subscribe to our eNewsletter
    • Glossary
  • About Us
    • Strategic Plan 2014-2019
    • Organisational structure
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Position Statements
    • Who we work with
    • Lung Cancer Screening enquiry
    • National Pancreatic Cancer Roadmap
    • News
    • Media
    • Campaigns & events
    • Information publication scheme
    • Reconciliation action plan
    • Employment opportunities
    • Contact us

Endometrial cancer

endometrial-mm affected-cancer/cancer-types/endometrial-cancer/what-endometrial-cancer
    • Home
    • Types
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
      • What you can do
      • Personal
        • Age
      • Lifestyle
        • Acrylamide in the diet
        • Alcohol
        • Coffee, green tea and black tea
        • Fat in the diet
        • Glycaemic load
        • Overweight and obesity
        • Passive smoking
        • Physical activity
        • Sedentary behaviour
        • Smoking
        • Weight loss
      • Reproductive
        • Age at menopause
        • Age when periods started
        • Breastfeeding
        • Having children
      • Medical history and medications
        • Aspirin and related medicines
        • Diabetes
        • Endometrial hyperplasia and polyps
        • Endometriosis
        • High blood pressure
        • Hormonal treatment for infertility
        • Intrauterine device (IUD) contraception
        • Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) (also known as hormone replacement therapy)
        • Metformin
        • Oral Bisphosphonates
        • Oral contraceptive pill
        • Paracetamol
        • Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
        • Selective oestrogen receptor modulators
        • Statins
        • Stress
      • Family history and genetics
        • Mismatch repair gene mutations (Lynch syndrome)
        • PTEN gene mutation (Cowden syndrome)
        • Family history of endometrial cancer or colorectal cancer
      • Understanding risk
      • Lynch syndrome
    • Symptoms
    • Diagnosis
    • Treatment
    • Finding support
    • Clinical trials
    • Health professionals
    • Home
    • Types
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
      • What you can do
      • Personal
        • Age
      • Lifestyle
        • Acrylamide in the diet
        • Alcohol
        • Coffee, green tea and black tea
        • Fat in the diet
        • Glycaemic load
        • Overweight and obesity
        • Passive smoking
        • Physical activity
        • Sedentary behaviour
        • Smoking
        • Weight loss
      • Reproductive
        • Age at menopause
        • Age when periods started
        • Breastfeeding
        • Having children
      • Medical history and medications
        • Aspirin and related medicines
        • Diabetes
        • Endometrial hyperplasia and polyps
        • Endometriosis
        • High blood pressure
        • Hormonal treatment for infertility
        • Intrauterine device (IUD) contraception
        • Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) (also known as hormone replacement therapy)
        • Metformin
        • Oral Bisphosphonates
        • Oral contraceptive pill
        • Paracetamol
        • Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
        • Selective oestrogen receptor modulators
        • Statins
        • Stress
      • Family history and genetics
        • Mismatch repair gene mutations (Lynch syndrome)
        • PTEN gene mutation (Cowden syndrome)
        • Family history of endometrial cancer or colorectal cancer
      • Understanding risk
      • Lynch syndrome
    • Symptoms
    • Diagnosis
    • Treatment
    • Finding support
    • Clinical trials
    • Health professionals
  1. Home
  2. Risk factors
  3. Reproductive
  4. Having children
  • What you can do
  • Personal
  • Lifestyle
  • Reproductive
    • Age at menopause
    • Age when periods started
    • Breastfeeding
    • Having children
  • Medical history and medications
  • Family history and genetics
  • Understanding risk
  • Lynch syndrome

Having children

  • Printer-friendly version
  • A|A
Convincing: There is compelling and consistent evidence that the factor increases or decreases the risk of endometrial cancer. Decreases risk

Having children is associated with a decreased risk of endometrial cancer. 

The risk of endometrial cancer is about 25% lower in women who have one child compared with those who have never had children. The risk of endometrial cancer decreases as the number of children that a woman has increases. For example, the risk of endometrial cancer in a woman with three children is about half that of a woman who has not had children. Conversely, not having children is associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer compared with having children.

The association between having children and decreased risk of endometrial cancer is likely to be due to hormones. Studies suggest that the female hormone oestrogen is associated with risk of endometrial cancer. When a woman is pregnant, her usual menstrual cycle is interrupted. This reduces the length of time her body is exposed to oestrogen and this may lower her risk. Hormone changes during childbirth may also be involved. The physical process of childbirth may also lower the risk of endometrial cancer by removing cancer-causing cells from the endometrium during delivery. 

 
  • Last Updated
  • Relevant Links
updated: 20 October 2020 - 3:32pm
Cancer Council
National Cancer Institute
American Cancer Society

Related information

What is cancer?
What is cancer?

Cancer is a disease of the cells, which are the body’s basic building blocks.

Treatment and side effects
Treatment and side effects

The treatment that your doctors recommend will depend on the type of cancer you have, how advanced it is, and other personal factors.

Living with cancer
Living with cancer

A diagnosis of cancer marks the beginning of a journey full of emotional, psychological, physical and practical challenges.

Life after cancer
Life after cancer

While looking forward to finishing their cancer treatment and getting on with life, for some people, the end of treatment can also be a confusing or worrying time.

A-Z List of Cancer Types

Information on more than 70 types of cancer

  • Bladder cancer
  • Bowel cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Breast cancer
  • Breast cancer in men
  • Breast cancer in young women
  • Cervical cancer
  • Children's Cancer
  • Endometrial cancer
  • Fallopian cancer
  • Gestational trophoblastic disease
  • Gynaecological cancers
  • Head and neck cancer
  • Kidney cancer
  • Leukaemia
  • Liver cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Melanoma of the skin
  • Mesothelioma cancer
  • Myeloma
  • Neuroendocrine tumours
  • Oesophageal cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Sarcoma
  • Stomach cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Unknown primary
  • Uterine sarcoma
  • Vaginal cancer
  • Vulval cancer

About Cancer Australia

Cancer Australia was established by the Australian Government in 2006 to benefit all Australians affected by cancer, and their families and carers. Cancer Australia aims to reduce the impact of cancer, address disparities and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer by leading and coordinating national, evidence-based interventions across the continuum of care.

If you would like an interpreter to help you understand any information on this website, please call TIS National on 131 450 and ask them to call Cancer Australia on 02 9357 9400. Our business hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Freecall 1800 624 973
+61 2 9357 9400

Locked Bag 3, Strawberry Hills
NSW 2012

Navigation

  • Affected by Cancer
  • Healthy Living
  • Clinical Best Practice
  • Research & Data
  • Publications & Resources
  • About Us

Contact us

* Denotes mandatory fields
 

By submitting this form, you accept the Cancer Australia privacy policy.

  • Contact Us
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Sitemap
Copyright © 2021 - Cancer Australia