After Years of Pain, Comedian Whoopi Goldberg, 68, Says Cottage Cheese Helped Finally Lead To Getting Endometriosis Treatment

How Are Endometrial Cancer and Endometriosis Different?

• “Sister Act” star Whoopi Goldberg, 68, says she didn’t know anything about endometriosis, a benign condition affecting the uterus that can cause intense pain, until an odd smell and a urinary tract infection caused her to see her doctor where it was discovered.
• Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus, known as the endometrium, grows on the outside of the uterus. It often brings debilitating pain and can often be difficult to diagnose.
• Endometrial cancer begins when cancerous cells form in the tissues of the endometrium or lining of the uterus. Symptoms typically associated with this type of cancer include vaginal bleeding and pelvic pain – like endometriosis.
• Although endometriosis and endometrial cancer cause similar symptoms, they are not the same because, in the case of the cancer, the endometrial cells lining the uterus become cancerous, while endometriosis remains benign.
• Treatment advancements for advanced endometrial cancer patients and those at higher risk for recurrence include combination therapies where immunotherapy is added to standard-of-care chemotherapy.

Talk show host and actress Whoopi Goldberg, 68, is riding an emotional wave on the 30th anniversary of her famed “Sister Act” movie. However, she often uses her platform to advocate for women’s health and feels conditions like endometriosis, a benign condition affecting the uterus that causes intense pain, need greater awareness. “I had it once. And I was lucky enough because I had a urinary tract infection that I did not take care of,” Goldberg said on “The View.”

“Endometriosis is the term for whenever those endometrial cells, those lining of the uterus cells, are outside of their normal place, which is inside the uterus,”  gynecologic oncologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Dr. Bobbie Rimel tells SurvivorNet. She adds that it is a benign condition, meaning it’s not cancerous. Though endometriosis isn’t cancerous, it can spread and cause severe pain that may require surgical or medical interventions to relieve it.

Goldberg says an odd smell helped lead to the discovery of endometriosis. “Stuff happens in your body, and I ended up with what looked like – and I don’t mean to gross you out – but suddenly there was a smell, and it looked like cottage cheese, and I didn’t know what was going on,” Goldberg explained. After seeing a doctor, she learned about the condition. “They were able to treat me with antibiotics. But that’s because somebody knew what they were looking at,” Goldberg said. “When I saw this documentary and heard that it takes them six to ten years to even get the diagnosis, I don’t understand that!” Goldberg added.

Expert Resources on Endometrial Cancer

• Endometrial Cancer — How to Spot the Signs And Symptoms Earlier
• Endometrial Cancer — Choosing The Right Doctor
• Chemotherapy Can Play A Vital Role In Treating Advanced and Aggressive Endometrial Cancers
• Combo Immunotherapy-Chemo Treatment May Help Slow Progression of Advanced Endometrial Cancer: Studies Show Promising Results
• For Advanced Endometrial Cancer: A Combination of Immunotherapy and PARP Inhibitor Drugs Offer Hope

Endometriosis and Endometrial Cancer Have Similar Characteristics, But They’re Not the Same

Endometriosis and endometrial cancer are health conditions that may sound similar and share some characteristics, but they are not the same. Endometrial cancer (also called uterine cancer) originates from the tissue lining the inside of the uterus, while endometriosis affects tissue similar to the lining of the uterus growing outside the uterus. WATCH: How to spot the signs and symptoms of endometrial cancer. “Endometrial cancer is actually when cells of the lining of the uterus become cancerous and begin to invade the uterus wall…[The cancer cells] may spread to the fallopian tubes, to the ovaries or the lining of the pelvis or elsewhere in the body,” Dr. Rimel adds. Endometrial cancer is believed to be linked to changes in hormonal balance in the body, particularly estrogen and progesterone, which influence the growth of the endometrial lining. The imbalance, such as too much estrogen without enough progesterone, can cause the endometrium to grow too much, leading to the development of cancer cells. It’s important to note that having endometriosis doesn’t necessarily make someone at risk for endometrial cancer or vice versa. Endometrial cancer and endometriosis share symptoms such as:

• Pelvic pain
• Heavy bleeding during periods
• Pain during or after intercourse
• Pain when urinating

However, distinct differences also exist between the two conditions. According to the Office of Women’s Health, endometriosis tends to impact women in their 30s and 40s and can impact their ability to get pregnant. Although heavy periods are a shared symptom, painful periods may be more associated with endometriosis. Irregular bleeding is the most identifiable symptom of endometrial cancer. In addition, post-menopausal women who’ve stopped having periods yet are experiencing vaginal bleeding should consider the symptom a red flag for endometrial cancer.

How Are These Conditions Treated?

Endometriosis isn’t curable, but its symptoms can be managed for a better quality of life. According to the National Institutes of Health, hormone therapy can be an effective treatment option to manage pain. “Hormone treatments stop the ovaries from producing hormones, including estrogen, and usually prevent ovulation,” the NIH explains. By cutting off estrogen, the activity of the endometrium and endometrial lesions slows down. Surgery is an option for severe cases where pain is intolerable. Surgeons can remove endometriosis lesions (also called patches) of endometrial tissue often found in the pelvis. Pain medications are also an option to manage symptoms. WATCH: How endometrial cancer surgery can help determine your treatment journey. Surgery is usually the first treatment considered for endometrial cancer when the disease is localized, and that alone may be all that’s necessary. However, more advanced stages of endometrial cancer may require a more targeted treatment approach. Patients whose cancer is confined to the uterus are considered low risk for recurrence and are likely to be treated with surgery alone. However, patients with advanced cancer that have metastasized beyond the uterus are considered at higher risk. These patients will likely need additional treatments beyond surgery, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation.

Advancements In Endometrial Cancer Treatment

Patients with advanced endometrial cancer or patients who’ve experienced recurrence have reason to be hopeful because treatment options are improving their quality of life. “We have the option of treating patients with a combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel, which are two different chemotherapies, and now we have the ability to add immunotherapy to that,” Dr. Rimel explains. Immunotherapy is an umbrella term for new treatments. Some are drugs, some are antibodies, and some are other molecules that activate the body’s immune system to overcome something the cancer has been suppressing. Patients with late-stage endometrial cancer previously only had chemotherapy as a treatment, but now a three-drug combination exists. WATCH: Treatment Options for Early Endometrial Cancer and Beyond “We use chemotherapy for six cycles or treatments in a row once every three weeks with carboplatin and paclitaxel, and then in addition, we add the immunotherapy and use it as a maintenance therapy with the goal of keeping the cancer from coming back and extending remission,” Dr. Rimel explained. The targeted drug trastuzumab deruxtecan, known as Enhertu, was recently approved for any tumor that expresses a high amount of the protein HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2), including endometrial cancers. It is one of several options doctors may consider to treat cancer if tests show it is advanced and strongly HER2 positive. Enhertu is a targeted cancer therapy that combines an antibody with a chemotherapy drug. The treatment is designed to deliver the chemotherapy directly to cancer cells by binding to specific proteins on the cells’ surface, reducing the impact on healthy cells and increasing the drug’s effectiveness. Enhertu specifically finds and neutralizes HER2 (Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2), a protein that can promote the growth of cancer cells. “It’s actually a type of chemotherapy because the antibody is bringing the drug directly to the cancer cell, that drug can be dumped in directly to the cancer cell and hopefully avoid a lot of the systemic kinds of symptoms that people have as a result of chemotherapy,” Dr. Rimel explains. “It’s not only an efficient way of bringing the drug to a cancer cell, but it’s also a very effective way. And recently, it was approved for tumors that express this molecule, HER2, which is present in a proportion of endometrial cancers, not all of them.” Dr. Rimel says your doctor should test you to see if your cancer has high levels of HER2. If it does, this drug is one option that may help you live longer with fewer side effects than chemo or radiation.