Dr. Vandana Walvekar

The uterus is a very important organ within the human reproductive system as this is the chamber where an embryo grows into a baby. Due to a multitude of factors, the incidence of uterine cancer has been on the rise. Let's look at some of its symptoms.

Symptoms of uterine cancer
When cells within the uterus grow abnormally and turn malignant, it may be termed as uterine cancer. This may be in the form of a fibroid or tumor or be part of the uterine tissue itself. It may be caused due to a multitude of factors such as late menopause, radiation exposure, estrogen treatments and many others.

Some of the common symptoms for uterine cancer could be:

1. Pain in the abdomen, lower back and especially the pelvic area.
2. Pain during urination,
3. Weight loss without any apparent reason
4. Vaginal bleeding with or without discharge
5. Pain during sex

Diagnoses of various cancers

Before we understand the stages of uterine cancer you need to know how doctors diagnose the various stages. This is done by the three following steps in the TNM method:

Tumor - Doctors try and search for tumors and locate them within the uterus, estimate its size and whether it is malignant or not.

Node - If the tumor is malignant, then doctors try to find out whether the tumor has reached the lymph nodes or not.

Metastasis - Doctors look for Metastasis which is whether the cancer has spread to other organs within the body and to what extent.

Stages of cancer - Cancer is primarily grouped in five stages from 0 to V according to the T, N and M stages mentioned below.

Stage 0 - This is a very early stage of cancer where the cells have malignant growth but are still small in number and haven't spread anywhere.

Stage I - If the cancer has developed a little but is restricted within the uterus, it is considered as stage one. This is also further divided into Stage 1A and 1B.

Stage II - When the cancer has started spreading but only to some parts of the cervix from the uterus, it is diagnosed as stage 2 uterine cancer.

Stage III - Categorized into Stage IIIA, Stage IIIB, Stage IIIC1 and Stage IIIC2, it is primarily where the cancer has spread to other organs but it is only limited to the pelvic area.

Stage IV A - When the cancer has gone beyond the pelvic area and also spread to the rectum and balder area.

Stage IV B - This is where the cancer has metastasized in the groin area or gone to other organs within the body as well.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection i.e. ICSI is different from conventional IVF i.e. In Vitro Fertilization because a single sperm is selected by the embryologist to be injected by a needle into the egg rather than a dish with many sperms placed near the egg so that the fastest swimming sperm enters it. Once the sperm is injected directly into the egg, it fertilizes, after which the embryo is transferred into the womb or uterus. 

Your doctor might recommend ICSI treatment for you if you have an extremely low sperm count resulting in infertility or other medical sperm conditions such as poor motility or poor morphology. It may also be suggested if prior attempts at IVF procedures have failed in fertilizing the egg or the fertilization rate is extremely low. You must also consider ICSI treatment if you resort to embryo testing or if the sperm needs to be collected from the epididymis or testicles surgically. 

However, you must keep in mind that if your partner has a genetic problem resulting in low sperm count, it could be passed on to your child, if you decide to use your husband's sperm for this process.

Success Rates of ICSI:
The success rate of ICSI treatment depends on your age and your fertility problem. Your eggs are healthier when you are young and as you age, chances are that they will become less healthy.
1. 35 per cent if you are under 35 years of age
2. 29 per cent if you are between 35 to 37 years of age
3. 21 per cent if you are between 38 to 39 years of age
4. 14 per cent if you are between 40 to 42 years of age
5. 6 per cent if you are between 43 to 44 years of age
6. 5 per cent if you are above 44 years of age

Advantages of ICSI Treatment:
Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection gives you a chance to conceive a child genetically when most other options are exhausted. Males may be unable to ejaculate on the day the eggs are collected due to anxiety. ICSI proves to be advantageous because sperm may also be surgically extracted for this process. It is extremely helpful for those couples who suffer from unexplained infertility. However, one of the most important factors is that ICSI treatment does not affect your child's physical or mental health.