Tests after being diagnosed with womb cancer

You may have more tests after your diagnosis to find out:

• How large is the cancer?
• Where exactly is the cancer?
• Has the cancer spread to any other parts of your body?

This is called staging. Staging tests for womb cancer include:

• Hysteroscopy: A thin, flexible tube with a light at the end (a hysteroscope) is passed through your vagina and into your womb. This allows your doctor to look inside your womb and take tissue samples (biopsies). You may be given a local anaesthetic for this test.
• CT scan: This is a type of X-ray that gives a detailed picture of the tissues inside your body.
• MRI scan: This is a scan that uses magnetic energy to build up a picture of the tissues inside your body. During the scan you will lie inside a tunnel-like machine. 
• PET - CT scan: A scan that gives a detailed picture of the tissues inside your body. You will have a radioactive injection that will show up any cancer spread to other parts of your body on a CT scan picture. 
• Transvaginal ultrasound: A small metal device called a probe is gently put into your vagina. It uses sound waves to build up a picture of the tissues in your womb.

• Dilatation and curettage (D&C): Here the doctor gently opens your cervix and entrance to the womb and takes samples of tissue from the inner lining of your womb. This is done with an instrument shaped like a spoon called a curette. The samples are then sent to the laboratory to be examined. This test is done under general anaesthetic.