Each year, more than 82,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cancers impacting the reproductive organs. These cancers fall into four major categories:

Cervical cancer affects the tissues of the cervix, the narrow lower end of the uterus that leads from the uterus to the vagina.

• Symptoms: Include bleeding after intercourse and excessive discharge between menstrual periods.
• Risk factors: Smoking, multiple sexual partners, HIV, HPV wart virus infection, and early age of first intercourse.

Endometrial cancer is a disease in which malignant cells form in the tissues of the endometrium, the lining of the uterus.

·         Symptoms: Any bleeding after menopause or irregular vaginal bleeding before menopause.

·         Risk factors: Obesity, hypertension, diabetes, use of hormones and late menopause. Women who have not been pregnant have a slightly higher risk.

Ovarian cancer affects the ovaries, a pair of organs located in the pelvis that produce eggs and female hormones.

·         Symptoms: Though ovarian cancer usually causes very few specific symptoms, they can include pressure or fullness in the pelvis, abdominal bloating or changes in bowel and bladder patterns.

·         Risk factors: Include age, family history and few or no pregnancies.

Vaginal and vulvar cancers affect the vagina, or birth canal, and the vulva, the outer part of the vagina. 

·         Symptoms: Itching, bleeding or a mass in the vulva area.

·         Risk factors: Advanced age or other pre-malignant conditions.