Gynecologic Cancers: 5 Things Every Employer Should Know
Roughly 100,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with a gynecologic cancer each year. Uterine cancer, a type of gynecologic cancer, is the fourth most common cancer among women. Yet, many people don’t have a good understanding of what these cancers are and how they show up—even as gynecologic cancer becomes a bigger piece of the women’s health benefits conversation.
Here are the basics: Gynecologic cancer isn’t a cancer in and of itself. It’s essentially a category for the various cancers that start in the female reproductive organs.
There are five main types of gynecologic cancer: cervical, ovarian, uterine (sometimes called endometrial), vaginal, and vulvar. While they fall under the same umbrella, these cancers don’t all behave in the same way—and they differ in how common they are, how well screening works, and how they show up.
When employers understand these differences, they’re better equipped to design benefits that support employees through diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Rates for some gynecologic cancers are rising (while others are falling)
Different types of gynecologic cancers have different incidence trends. In positive news, the incidence of cervical cancer among women ages 20 to 31 has fallen 27%, according to a study that compared rates from 2016 to 2021 with rates from 2000 to 2005. That decline is largely credited to HPV vaccination.
Unfortunately, other types of gynecologic cancer are heading in the opposite direction. For example, new cases of uterine cancer have risen just under 1% a year since 2014. It’s now the most commonly diagnosed gynecologic cancer in the U.S. And while 1% may seem small on its own, the trend is compounding in the wrong direction—and if the trend holds, researchers project uterine cancer cases will climb 40% by 2050.
This means that progress against one type of gynecologic cancer doesn’t mean progress against all of them. That’s worth keeping in mind when building benefits and awareness efforts. A one-size-fits-all approach isn’t always enough.
2. Screening effectiveness varies by cancer type
The availability and accuracy of screening are some of the biggest reasons why outcomes vary so much across gynecologic cancers.
Providers reliably and routinely screen for cervical cancer through Pap smears and HPV tests, which catch precancerous changes before they turn into actual cancer. This early detection makes a real difference. More than 90% of women diagnosed with cervical cancer at the earliest stage survive five years or more, compared with only about 19% of those diagnosed at the most advanced stage.
In contrast, there are screening tests (blood tests and transvaginal ultrasounds) for ovarian cancer, but they don’t work well enough to be used as routine screening. In fact, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force actually recommends against using these tests to screen women who don’t have symptoms or high hereditary risk, because they don’t reduce deaths from ovarian cancer and can lead to unnecessary surgery from false positives. As a result, 69% of ovarian cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage (49% distant, 20% regional).
Uterine, vaginal, and vulvar cancers don’t have routine screening tests either, so it’s up to patients to try to recognize early symptoms on their own.
3. Symptoms are frequently mistaken for other conditions
Recognizing symptoms early is harder than it sounds, though—especially because gynecologic cancer symptoms tend to mimic more common and less serious conditions.
Ovarian cancer itself is sort of a misnomer, as most of these cancers actually originate in the fallopian tubes rather than the ovaries themselves. Symptoms (like bloating, abdominal pain, and feeling full quickly) resemble digestive issues like IBS or acid reflux, which makes diagnosis murky. Women who first report gastrointestinal symptoms wait an average of 105 days for an ovarian cancer diagnosis, compared with 57 to 81 days for those with more specific abdominal or pelvic symptoms.
As another example, uterine cancer’s primary symptom is postmenopausal bleeding. But that’s an easy sign for women and providers to write off, since most cases of bleeding tend to be something other than cancer. Only 9% of women who report postmenopausal bleeding turn out to have endometrial cancer. Yet 91% of women with endometrial cancer had experienced postmenopausal bleeding.
Trying to catch symptoms early isn’t a reliable defense against gynecologic cancers—but it’s often a woman’s only defense.
4. Treatment requires specific expertise
For the best chance at success, gynecologic cancers should be treated by a gynecologic oncologist. That’s a specialist—not a general ob-gyn, general surgeon, or general medical oncologist.
Patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer see a five- to eight-month survival benefit when a gynecologic oncologist performs their surgery (instead of a general gynecologist or general surgeon).
Yet, despite the obvious benefits, not every patient gets to see one. Getting a referral to a gynecologic oncologist often depends on which doctor a patient sees first, or whether their plan’s network makes specialty care easy to find. Employers can help by making sure their benefit plans connect employees with specialists (including gynecologic oncologists).
5. Prevention exists (but awareness is low)
There are options to stop gynecologic cancers before they even start—but most people either don’t know about them or don’t use them.
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine can prevent more than 90% of HPV-related cancers, including most cervical cancers. However, only 62.9% of U.S. teens were up to date on the HPV vaccine in 2024.
Genetic testing is another preventive option that can flag women at higher risk for ovarian and uterine cancer. Two of the most well-known examples are BRCA mutations (inherited gene changes that increase the risk of ovarian and breast cancer) and Lynch syndrome (an inherited condition linked to higher uterine and colorectal cancer risk).
Yet this type of testing is surprisingly uncommon. Even among women already diagnosed with ovarian cancer, only 47% had received BRCA testing within a year of diagnosis. That test can have impacts beyond the patient themselves, as it can reveal risk for other family members (like siblings or children) who might be able to catch their own cancer earlier if they know that they should get tested.
Many health plans actually cover prevention tools like vaccination and genetic counseling, but that coverage doesn’t do much if employees don’t know how to use it.
Gynecologic cancers aren’t one disease—they’re five. And each comes with its own risk trends, screening tools, symptoms, and treatments. Supporting employees means building a women’s health benefits strategy that goes beyond generic cancer coverage to help them find the right specialist who can give them the right diagnosis at the right time.
Carrum Health can help by connecting employees to specialized care teams who treat these cancers regularly. Specialists and treatment options exist. The better question to ask yourself is this: Can your employees access them?
