Insight
When surgery spreads cancer: A silent killer in women’s health
By Daniela Schardinger
For decades, women’s health has been sidelined, underfunded, and overlooked. While progress is being made, some of the most serious threats to women’s health remain hidden in plain sight.
One of the biggest risks is something few women are ever warned about – the silent spread of undiagnosed cancer during routine gynecologic surgery.
Every year, millions of women undergo hysterectomies, myomectomies, and adnexal mass removals due to common uterine conditions – such as uterine fibroids (myomas), which affect 7 in 10 women and 8 in 10 women of colour, making them the leading cause of hysterectomy.
While these surgeries can be medically necessary, they carry an often-overlooked danger – one that can mean the difference between life and death.
Research shows that 1 in 350 women undergoing a hysterectomy or myomectomy has undiagnosed cancer, and for adnexal mass removals, that number is 1 in 100.
If these procedures are performed without proper containment, cancerous cells can spread, drastically lowering survival rates.
Despite these publicly recognised risks that led to hundreds of million-dollar lawsuits a decade ago, hospitals have been shockingly slow to adopt the safest surgical techniques, putting women at unnecessary risk.
The Risk No One Talks About
To minimise scarring and speed up recovery, most gynecologic surgeries are performed laparoscopically, using a technique that is called morcellation – to breaks down larger tissue to small pieces and removing them through a small incision.
When power morcellators were banned in 2014 due to their potential to spread undiagnosed cancer, many assumed the problem had been solved.
But instead of developing safer alternatives, surgeons simply switched to manual morcellation, often using simple bags that are not designed or approved for that use and rupture at alarmingly high rates.
Some hospitals still rely on non-FDA-cleared surgical bags that rupture up to 30 per cent of the time, while even common FDA-cleared containment systems have a 15 per cent failure rate.
This means that women undergoing these procedures are still at risk of cancerous cell spillage – a risk that could and should have been eliminated by now.
Uterine cancer is one of the slowest cancers to be detected, often remaining asymptomatic until later stages.
This makes the risk of undiagnosed malignancy during surgery particularly concerning.
Since current preoperative screenings are not always conclusive, it is imperative to use the safest possible containment techniques to prevent the spread of cancerous cells during gynecologic procedures.
In the U.S. alone, safer containment systems have the potential to protect 400,000 women annually from unnecessary cancer spread.
And it’s not just cancer that’s a concern.
Uncontained morcellation can also spread endometrial cells, potentially leading to or exacerbating endometriosis, a painful and often debilitating condition.
Even benign tissue, if dispersed in the abdominal cavity, can adhere to other organs, causing complications such as bowel obstructions, chronic pain, and diminished quality of life.
These risks are entirely preventable when the right containment tools are used – yet outdated practices continue, leaving women vulnerable to life-altering consequences.
As Dr. Vadim Morozov, MD, puts it:
“As a surgeon, I’ve seen firsthand the devastating consequences of uncontained morcellation. The risk is real, and it’s preventable. We wouldn’t operate with a ruptured glove – so why would we operate with a ruptured containment bag?”
Innovation Exists – So Why Aren’t We Using It?
The frustrating reality is that safer solutions already exist.
Companies have developed advanced double-wall containment systems cleared by the FDA and designed to significantly reduce the risk of surgical spillage, ensuring that even if an undiagnosed cancer is present, it won’t spread during surgery.
These advanced containment solutions offer a much-needed safety net, providing surgeons with a tool to minimise the risk of surgical spillage and enhance patient safety.
However, many hospitals still rely on outdated techniques that were neither designed nor cleared for this use.
They are not required to adopt improved systems, and there are no universal guidelines mandating best practices.
Some hospitals continue using cheaper bags that lack FDA approval for such procedures, while others forego containment altogether due to outdated surgical habits.
And all of this happens without the patient’s awareness, as hospitals are left to govern and monitor themselves.
This raises an urgent question: Why are hospitals not moving faster to protect women?
Regulatory bodies, OB-GYN associations and hospitals must catch up with the pace of innovation. If safer solutions exist, they should be the standard – not the exception.
A Call to Action: Stop Preventable Cancer and Endometriosis Spread in Surgery
Startups and innovators are already making strides in this space, developing better containment systems and safer gynecologic surgical techniques. But they can’t do it alone.
- Hospitals must prioritise adopting proven containment systems to eliminate surgical spillage risks.
- Regulatory bodies must issue clearer guidelines enforcing the use of safer techniques.
- Investors and global healthcare players must help scale innovations in this space.
Now, the question is: Will we step up and make it standard, or will we continue to let outdated practices be a silent killer of women?
It’s time for action. Women deserve better.
Daniela Schardinger is a recognised thought leader in women’s health innovation, dedicated to advancing FemTech, medical advancements, and global health initiatives. She serves on the Innovation Equity Steering Committee at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and NIH, shaping policies that drive investment and innovation in women’s health.
Daniela has been a speaker and participant at World Economic Forum Innovator events and the Global Women’s Health Alliance meetings in New York, contributing to high-level discussions on the future of women’s healthcare.
She has been recognised as one of Forbes’ “Superwomen”, a 40 Under 40 honoree, recipient of the Visionary Award from the California State Senate, and named an Inspirational Woman by the LA Times.
Most recently, she was honored as the Woman of Influence 2025 Advocate of the Year by a U.S. Chamber of Commerce for her dedication to transforming women’s health globally.
GSK said its ovarian cancer drug shrank or cleared tumours in more than 60 per cent of patients in an early trial as CCO Luke Miels pushes faster development.
The company said that in an early-stage trial, Mocertatug Rezetecan, known as Mo-Rez, shrank or eliminated tumours in 62 per cent of patients with ovarian cancer after chemotherapy had failed, and in 67 per cent of those with endometrial cancer.
Hesham Abdullah, GSK’s global head of cancer research and development, said: “Treatment of gynaecological cancers remains a major challenge, with a pressing need for new therapies that offer improved response rates.
“With Mo-Rez we now have compelling evidence of a promising clinical profile.”
GSK acquired the Mo-Rez treatment, an antibody-drug conjugate, from China’s Hansoh Pharma in late 2023 and has trialled it in 224 patients around the world, including the UK, over the past year.
Only a few patients needed to stop treatment because of side effects, the most common being nausea.
It is given every three weeks by intravenous infusion, meaning directly into a vein.
Combined with data from a separate intermediate trial in China, the results have given the British drugmaker the confidence to go straight to late-stage trials, with five clinical studies planned globally in the next few months, including on patients in the UK.
Speaking to journalists before the conference, Abdullah described Mo-Rez as a “key asset” in the company’s growing cancer portfolio.
It is expected to be a blockbuster drug, with peak annual sales of more than £2bn, which GSK hopes will help it achieve its 2031 sales target of £40bn.
A few years ago GSK did not have any cancer drugs on the market, but it now has four approved medicines and 13 in clinical development.
Last year, oncology generated nearly £2bn in sales, up 43 per cent from 2024, with sales of its endometrial cancer drug Jemperli rising 89 per cent.
Self-employment is linked to lower rates of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, poor health and binge drinking in Hispanic women, research suggests.
The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Ethnicity & Disease, suggest work structure may be related to cardiovascular disease risk among this group.
Dr Kimberly Narain is assistant professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, senior author of the study, and director of health services and health optimisation research for the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center.
She said: “Hispanic women experience a disproportionate burden of heart disease compared to non-Hispanic women. This is the first study to link the structure of work with risks for heart disease among this group of women.”
The researchers examined 2003 to 2022 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to assess the association between self-employment, cardiovascular disease risk factors and health outcomes for Hispanic women.
The data included 165,600 Hispanic working women. Of those, about 21,000, or 13 per cent, were self-employed rather than working for wages or a salary.
Overall, the researchers found that self-employed women were less likely to report cardiovascular-disease-associated health problems.
They were also about 11 per cent more likely to report exercising compared with their non-self-employed counterparts.
Specifically, they found that self-employed Hispanic women had a 1.7 percentage point lower chance of reporting diabetes, roughly a 23 per cent decline.
They also had a 3.3 percentage point lower chance of reporting hypertension, roughly a 17 per cent decline.
The study also found a 5.9 percentage point lower chance of reporting obesity, roughly a 15 per cent decline.
It found a 2.0 percentage point lower chance of reporting binge drinking, roughly a 2 per cent decline.
It also found a 2.5 percentage point lower chance of reporting poor or fair overall health, roughly a 13 per cent decline.
The relationship between heart disease risks and the structure of work among Hispanic women was not driven by access to healthcare or differences in income, Narain said.
In fact, the decrease in high blood pressure linked to self-employment was nearly as large as the decrease in high blood pressure linked to being in the highest income group.
The study has some limitations.
The researchers relied on self-reported outcomes, which might be less reliable among ethnic and racial minorities and those from a lower socioeconomic background.
In addition, the researchers’ definition of poor mental health does not entirely match the accepted definition in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
They also did not have data allowing them to examine the specific types of occupations held by the women.
The study design also cannot prove any causal relationship between self-employment and cardiovascular disease risk, which is a subject the researchers will explore.
“The next step in the research is to conduct studies that are able to better assess if the structure of work is a cause of higher heart disease risks among Hispanic women.”
Narain said this.
Study co-authors are Lisette Collins, who led the research, and Dr Frederick Ferguson of UCLA.
Grants from the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center-Leichtman-Levine-TEM program and the UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program supported the research.
Working from home is linked to 0.32 more children per woman when both partners do it at least once a week, research across 38 countries suggests.
The study found that among working adults aged 20 to 45, estimated lifetime fertility, meaning children already born or fathered plus plans for future children, rises when one or both partners work remotely.
In the US, the increase was even higher at 0.45 children per woman.
On average, women whose partners did not work from home had 2.26 children.
When the woman worked from home at least one day a week, this rose to 2.48. When both partners did so, it increased to 2.58.
If the man worked from home at least one day a week, the increase was more limited at 2.36 children.
The research, by Steven J. Davis and colleagues and published as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, points to three possible explanations.
Remote working may make it easier to balance childcare with paid work, leading some couples to have more children.
Families with children may also be more likely to look for remote roles. Or the growing availability of those roles may lift fertility by opening up more parent-friendly jobs.
“All three stories align with the idea that WFH jobs make it easier for parents to combine child rearing and employment,” the report suggests.
The pattern held both after the pandemic, between 2023 and 2025, and before it, between 2017 and 2019.
The implications for national fertility rates vary mainly because working-from-home rates differ widely between countries.
Among workers aged 20 to 45, the share working from home at least one day a week ranges from 21 per cent in Japan to 60 per cent in Vietnam. The UK ranks third globally and leads Europe at 54 per cent.
The report estimates that, if “interpreted causally”, remote working accounts for 8.1 per cent of US fertility, equal to about 291,000 births a year as of 2024.
The researchers note that while this may sound modest, it is larger than the effect of government spending on early childhood care and education in the US.
“Bringing WFH rates to the levels that currently prevail in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada has the potential to materially boost fertility in many other countries,” the report suggests.
However, the research cautions against broad policy approaches, saying the desire for remote work varies widely between individuals, and that it is not practical in every job or organisation.
“Thus, policy interventions that push for a one-size-fits-all approach to working arrangements are likely to yield unhappier workers and lower productivity,” it warns.
A UK Parliament report has also found that remote and hybrid work can boost employment, with parents, carers and people with disabilities likely to benefit most from more flexible working options.
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