Uterine fibroids are noncancerous tumors that grow in the uterus, with up to 75% of women experiencing them. They can cause symptoms such as pain, bleeding, and frequent urination, and can be treated with medication or surgery. Fibroids are named based on their location and can become cancerous in rare cases.
Fibroids, also called uterine fibroids, are benign, noncancerous tumors that grow in the uterus. They often appear during a woman’s childbearing years and are the most common benign growth seen in women. About one in 1000 tumors become cancerous, although many doctors think that the cancer in these cases is not actually due to the growth itself. Up to 75% of women get these growths sooner or later, but most go completely unnoticed because they cause no symptoms. They vary in size from microscopic to grapefruit and the largest can be felt by the woman herself through the abdominal wall.
Uterine fibroids usually don’t require any treatment, but they can be treated with medication and/or surgery if they become problematic. Those growths that cause symptoms are often associated with excessive pain or bleeding during the menstrual period, lower back pain, and frequent urination. It used to be that particularly troublesome tumors were almost always removed by performing a hysterectomy. However, new surgical techniques now allow growths to be removed from the uterus, which is the preferred option over a hysterectomy, especially for women who still want to have children.
The naming of these tumors, or a singular fibroid, is done based on where exactly the tumor is located. Intramural fibroids are the most common type and are found in the wall of the uterus. Those found on the outside are called subserous fibroids. These can grow quite large, and some even grow partially detached from the uterus, being connected to it by a stalk. If this happens, it is known as a pedunculated fibroid.
Submucosal fibroids are those that develop just inside the inner lining of the uterus, in the smooth muscle tissue. Sometimes, these tumors form inside the uterus cavity and are called intracavitary fibroids. These will almost always cause noticeable period-related symptoms, if they are large enough. They will likely need to be removed, but this can often be done in an outpatient setting. Rounding out the list are cervical fibroids, which grow in the tissue of the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that leads to the birth canal.
In the very rare event that a uterine fibroid becomes malignant, one of the signs of malignancy is that it will continue to grow after menopause. It is not known what causes this condition to develop. No risk factors for developing growths have been determined, other than being a woman of childbearing age.
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