BATON ROUGE — Uterine cancer is the most diagnosed gynecologic cancer in America, and despite advances in cancer research and treatments, death rates continue to rise, especially among Black women.

"She was the most outgoing, caring person in the world,” Brenton Webb, whose mother Cherlynn Webb was diagnosed with uterine cancer in September 2020, said.

Cherylnn Webb was diagnosed at 63 and was told it had been caught early.

"We thought that it wasn't going to be that bad,” her son said.

But during treatment, Cherlynn Webb went downhill due to therapeutic complications. Less than a year later, she died.

"For us...it crushed us,” her son said.

According to the National Cancer Institute, Black women like Cherlynn Webb are more than two times as likely to die from uterine cancer when compared to other racial groups.

Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center are trying to figure out why.

"Uterine cancer is the only cancer over the last four decades that has actually had decreasing survival rates,” Casey Cosgrove with the center said.

Cosgrove and his team are hoping to develop targeted treatments to improve survival, but he says women should be aware of signs, which can include abnormal uterine bleeding, pelvic pain, vaginal discharge, changes in bladder or bowel habits, abdominal bloating or fullness and a persistent cough.

All these symptoms should prompt a talk with your doctor.

"So that if appropriate some additional testing like ultrasound and or biopsies might be performed to make sure that there's not something that's going on,” Cosgrove said.

The Webb family is now working to make everyone aware of this disease and its disparities.

"There's no better way to honor her than to help others,” Brenton Webb said.