Research finds pregnancies, miscarriages reduce risk of endometrial cancer

Women who suffer miscarriages and those who have full-term pregnancies could be at less risk of developing a common kind of cancer, a new study has found.

Researchers from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) Berghofer said the risk of endometrial cancer reduced by about 15 per cent with each pregnancy, for as many as eight pregnancies.

For miscarriages, that risk falls by about 7 per cent per miscarriage.

Endometrial cancer, also known as uterine cancer, affects the endometrium — the lining of the uterus or womb — and is the fifth most common cancer for Australian women.

Cancer Australia said the disease affected 3,115 women across the country in 2019, and claimed about 350 lives in 2018.