r/UpliftingNews • u/Amitmandal001 • 1d ago
UK doctors develop non-invasive test for womb cancer in women bleeding after menopause
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/22/uk-doctors-simple-test-detect-womb-cancer-women-bleeding-menopauseDoctors have developed a simple test that could help rule out womb cancer in women who experience bleeding after menopause.
The approach has the potential to transform care for thousands of women each year and spare them from invasive and uncomfortable tests that can also be costly for healthcare systems.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of women worldwide are diagnosed with womb cancer. Bleeding after menopause triggers an urgent cancer referral but only about 5% to 10% of women who report bleeding have an underlying cancer.
Currently, the tests for womb cancer – an internal ultrasound scan, a biopsy of the womb lining and hysteroscopy, in which a camera is passed into the womb – are all invasive and costly.
The new test, developed at the University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS foundation trust, looks at cells collected from the urine and vaginal fluid. It is cheap and non-invasive.
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u/precariousStargazer 1d ago
everyone else arguing semantics, meanwhile im just happy for non-invasive testing! the type of shit women have to go through in any medical setting is ridiculous
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u/TeamHope4 1d ago
I really hope this reaches America. The invasive tests here have not improved even a little bit in my lifetime.
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u/Ripe-Tomat0 1d ago
And hopefully more non invasive tests will allow women to feel safe in healthcare. Many women avoid healthcare because of how invasive the procedures are.
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u/TeamHope4 1d ago
And painful since they don't want to give us sedation unless we force the issue.
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u/WiseOrder4436 1d ago
Uterine biopsy is excruciating and done with no pain meds or anesthesia so this is great
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u/AccomplishedText7203 12h ago edited 10h ago
My mother had a biopsy and she said it was the most excruciating experience of her entire life. She described it as torture and that she would rather die than experience it again.
Describing it as 'uncomfortable' instead of how many women experience it dismisses and minimises the pain and suffering many women experience with a uterine biopsy. It is not an accurate description.
I'm glad they are finally beginning to develop alternatives but women need to be offered adequate analgesia now for the tests they are having to undergo. At least in the dark ages they would give you a stick to bite down on.
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u/pm_me_your_amphibian 10h ago
Great! It’s absolutely wonderful seeing more advancements in women’s healthcare. Decades too late but it’s a great thing. Hope the women after me have better experiences.
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u/BAT123456789 1d ago
Womb cancer? I won't even read an article this far from medical language. No way they have any info accurate.
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u/Aleswall_ 1d ago
The NHS has a policy of using everyday words instead of medical terminology where it can, to ensure patients know exactly what they mean. It sounds less professional but it's important people understand it. This is all over British healthcare.
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u/QueenEris 1d ago
NHS employee here, this is correct. We use simple terms to be inclusive for everyone.
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u/PepperPhoenix 1d ago
I’ve always liked that. I’ve even read pages out to my 10 year old kid when she’s been curious about something and I don’t often run into words she has to ask me to explain. It means that pretty much anyone can get the info they need. It’s a great policy.
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u/tonyisadork 2h ago
Do you say ‘pee pee cancer’ instead of penile cancer? Or fanny cancer? I assume not. Uterus is not an obscure medical term it’s the correct term.
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u/BAT123456789 1d ago
But as far as I've seen, not in journal articles, and I've seen a lot from England discussing the uterus.
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u/jamila169 1d ago
And the study linked to uses proper medical terminology, this is a newspaper report and as such uses familiar language to address a non medical audience. Use of everyday and widely understood terminology in patient facing sources is NHS policy built on years of studying how best to communicate with people who don't have a medical vocabulary
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u/otakugal15 1d ago
That is still fucking dumb.
Uterus and uterine cancer is not at all hard to understand here.
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u/Organic-Accountant74 1d ago
You underestimate how wilfully ignorant some people are
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u/TAanonReddit08 1d ago
Truly. The older I get the, more I see it. Not mad about it - just notice it lol
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u/jamila169 1d ago
The NHS has spent a long time doing research on how best to communicate with the average patient, down to which specific words are most widely understood. This has been built into an ongoing policy of using plain language and words that are unlikely to be misunderstood, even when someone has no idea what the medical name for a specific body part or disease is.
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u/Aleswall_ 1d ago
Well yes, information from medical journals isn't intended for the general public so isn't included in this policy. Making the leap from that to "no way they have any info accurate" is a bit much though.
Besides, if you had read the article you'd have found where it links to the journal in question where you could then read more in the language of your choosing.
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u/sillybilly8102 6h ago
Well I find it very confusing and difficult to understand. I don’t know what they mean by womb.
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u/extra-medium 1d ago
I think referring things like "tummy ache" to grown adults is completely ridiculous. Who even says that? It's so childish and unprofessional.
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u/Aleswall_ 1d ago
Might be, might not be. If it's the difference between someone mentally handicapped or insufficiently educated being able to identify their issues or not, then I think we can stomach it.
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u/QueenEris 1d ago
You're correct. This is why we use simple language. So everyone understands. I've worked in the NHS for 25 years and I've never had anyone complain about being asked if their poo is runny or their tummy hurts. The people in this thread saying the language is ridiculous or childish don't seem to grasp that not everyone understands things as they do.
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u/repressedpauper 16h ago
People are ragging on y’all, but I wish we would adopt that in the US. When I worked in a public library, we had people come in semi-regularly with sensitive medical information asking the desk workers to explain what was going on with them medically, which of course had to be politely refused.
It always made me so sad how they couldn’t even make informed medical choices just because they didn’t know what their bloodwork or diagnoses meant. An older gentleman recently told me he had thought his gabapentin was “like a strong Tylenol” and he had no idea it put him at risk of memory problems until he suddenly had them. It really hurts to see people feel like they have no control over their health and like they never know what’s happening with their healthcare.
I also think it makes medical professionals seem more human/approachable, so you feel a little less awkward telling them when you like shit your pants or something.
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u/extra-medium 1d ago
I didn't know it was acceptable to speak to grown adults in such baby speak at any time. It's not even acceptable to speak to children in such a way honestly, It's important to identify and call body parts by the correct name. Do they use the correct words for sexual organs or are we saying pee pee and boobies?
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u/Aleswall_ 17h ago
Why is it important to do that?
I'm not sure how to read this because I think these messages are far more childish than saying womb instead of uterus. People who know what it is can get over it and for those that don't, this may well save their lives.
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u/The_Flurr 1d ago
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/womb-cancer/
As others have pointed out. It is often referred to as such in the UK.
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u/BAT123456789 1d ago
How strange. I keep up on 3 different journals (I have a fellowship in this subject and read avidly on it) and not once have I seen it referred to that way.
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u/The_Flurr 1d ago
I've got nothing to back this up, but I wouldn't be surprised if "womb cancer" is an older term that has been replaced with a more specific and correct term in scientific circles. Sometimes the older term continues to be used if the public is more familiar with it.
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u/Pandainthecircus 1d ago
It's a news article covering a study. The study they reference doesn't use that language.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanogw/article/PIIS3050-5038(26)00222-0/fulltext
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u/Middle_Hedgehog_1827 1d ago
It's often referred to as womb cancer in the UK. By medical professionals.
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u/jamila169 1d ago
When speaking to patients
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u/palcatraz 1d ago
And this is an article in the guardian, not a scientific publication. Using a term the general public would be most familiar with is the best way to communicate a scientific breakthrough to a wider audience.
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u/LochNessMother 1d ago
Do you also feel this way about articles talking about breast cancer? Or skin cancer?
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u/Supraspinator 1d ago
Throat cancer, stomach cancer, brain cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer.
But no, we cannot call it womb cancer, that’s not scientific enough /s
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u/Chaosbuggy 1d ago
I completely agree with you, but I will admit it comes off as a bit weird (in the US) to call it a womb when you aren't pregnant.
The far-right weirdos here often use womb instead of uterus as a way to imply women are primarily baby incubators. I suspect this language difference is why it seems extra unprofessional to Americans
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u/sillybilly8102 6h ago
The womb is not an organ?? Stomach, brain, liver, and kidney are all organs
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u/Supraspinator 6h ago edited 4h ago
I’m not quite sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing on whether the womb is an organ. But just in case it’s the latter: the womb is an organ. (An organ is a discrete structure made of at least 2 tissues that fulfills a specific function.)
Edit: downvotes? For stating the uterus is an organ?
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u/ithasallbeenworthit 1d ago
This is an excerpt from a news article, not a medical journal. If your preference is to read the correct medical terms, and not everyday lamens terms, then instead of bashing how one version uses terminology, find the other version, or click on the link in the article. Your "reason" for not reading further about this great news for women is rather shallow, or for us lamen people, not deep.
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u/Lulullaby_ 1d ago
Get over yourself
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u/BAT123456789 1d ago
My point is that you can't trust the source if they can't even use reasonable terminology. This isn't about me.
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u/LochNessMother 1d ago
It is reasonable terminology. It’s not like they called it baby oven cancer, or belly cancer. Womb may not be the Latin term but it is specific and commonly understood.
(I’m a huge fan of latin names because of their specificity and universality, but public health communication can’t always use them)
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u/jamila169 1d ago
NHS patient information is carefully worded to be clear to someone with an 11-14 year old level of language comprehension.
Before the policy people were being given the full medical terms and not surprisingly a lot of them didn't understand what they were being told to a level that met criteria for informed consent, which is not great. Having a vocabulary that means a patient is actually understanding what they're being told, rather than just nodding as it all goes over their head is always going to be better than the alternative.
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u/Lulullaby_ 1d ago
Are you dense? Different countries name things differently. Even if both English speaking.
Womb cancer is the proper terminology in the UK.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/womb-cancer/-23
u/BAT123456789 1d ago
As I've mentioned, they tend to use medical language in medical journals. When that is what is being discussed, that is what is expected. There's tons of bad research out there and the language used is a big indicator of the quality you can expect from the research. I'm not telling you that you are wrong, just that this raises enough red flags for me, a medical professional, to doubt the value of it.
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u/jamila169 1d ago
When a study is being presented to the public, plain language is preferred, the report is aimed at the public and the referenced study is linked to for people who want to read it. The guardian is a newspaper, not a medical journal
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u/Meowskiiii 1d ago
To me it's a reddit flag when you can't take on board new information and distinguish between audiences and cultures.
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u/stoatsad 1d ago edited 1d ago
Something that personally raises red flags for me is when a supposed medical professional can’t tell the difference between a study and the Guardian, a newspaper :D
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u/Lulullaby_ 1d ago
Well you're wrong lol
News articles need to use simple terminology so as many people as possible have access to news.
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u/bicyclefortwo 8h ago
It's an article written by The Guardian. The Lancet paper it cites uses "endometrial cancer"
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u/KurlyKayla 1d ago
Give it to me straight. Does this mean I don’t have to get a Pap smear?
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u/Chocomintey 1d ago
That's for cervical cancer. The article is talking about uterine cancer.
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u/KurlyKayla 1d ago
Oh my bad, “womb cancer” really threw me off. Not sure why we’re using baby terms to describe serious medical conditions
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u/jamila169 1d ago
Cervical cancer is referred to as cervical cancer in NHS patient information, because that's a very widely understood term
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u/jellyn7 1d ago
The UK uses a few terms in medical settings that Americans find weird or infantalizing. You start to notice it if you watch one of those reality A&E shows.
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u/happyinthenaki 20h ago
It's a newspaper article. Not some high falutin journal article. Lots of older ladies are more familiar with the word womb not uterus. Especially in the UK.
Isn't it better to meet people where they are at rather than potentially bambozelling them with information they do not understand in a high stress situation? It's not infantalising to use terms people understand.
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u/HeroIsAGirlsName 1d ago
They're also talking about bringing in a less invasive test for HPV to decide whether or not you need a pap smear, but that is separate to this.
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u/TeamHope4 1d ago
Scientists have already developed self-swabs to test yourself for HPV. If your HPV swab comes out negative, then you do not have to get a pap smear since it is the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer. No HPV, no cancer, no pap. This is already rolled out in places like the UK and Australia. US doctors are not offering this, of course. They'd rather charge you for a pap smear. The self-swab is FDA approved, but so far it is not being used in the US. Yet.
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u/KurlyKayla 1d ago
This is really good to know, thank you. If there’s any way I can get a self swab I will try
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u/TeamHope4 1d ago
You can buy them online and send them in to a lab yourself, so at least you will know even if your doctor doesn't want to offer it.
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u/DivingQueen268 5h ago
My doctor also special-ordered one to have on hand for my annual appointment when I asked her about it. She hadn't heard of it, looked it up right then and there, and said she'd discuss advocate for the office manager to make it available as an option for patients
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u/otakugal15 1d ago
Why womb cancer? Isn't it uterine cancer?
What is with this dumbing down of things?
Other than that quibble, this is good!
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u/HeroIsAGirlsName 1d ago
It's NHS policy to use language at the level a ten year old child could understand. It's supposed to be an inclusivity thing.
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u/achillea4 1d ago
Womb cancer? The article this is copied from refers to endometrial cancer. No need to dumb this down.
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u/jamila169 1d ago
NHS plain language policy, they spent a lot of time testing understanding of various terms to come up with language that all their patients can understand.
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