Uterine fibroids are not cancerous. Less than one in a thousand cases of fibroids develop into cancer.1
In a very small number of patients with a condition called hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC), the fibroids are linked to kidney cancer. However, this association is not seen in women who do not have HLRCC.2
- Levy, B., Mukherjee, T., & Hirschhorn, K. (2000). Molecular cytogenetic analysis of uterine leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma by comparative genomic hybridization. Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics 121(1), 18. [top]
- Berger, L. (2008, October 23). A Decade of Developments in Fibroid Research. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/ref/health/healthguide/esn-fibroids-expert.html. [top]