Ovarian cancer is a malignant tumor of the ovary, which can be very difficult to detect in early stage.
Its not easy to diagnose at this stage until it has spread and advanced to later stages when the disease chance or cure is very low.
This happens simply because most symptoms are not specific and they often indicate other common medical conditions such as: Abdominal pain Bloating Pelvic pain Tiredness Constipation Weight loss Back pain Statistics have consistently shown that ovarian cancer is the 5th leading cause of death from cancer in women and the leading cause of death from gynaecological cancer.
In most cases the cause of ovarian cancer remains unknown and recently researches have proved that it is hereditary in some cases and there are number of ways to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.
Modern ways of reducing ovarian cancer: 1.
Early age of 1st pregnancy 2.
Pregnancy before the age of 25 and breast feeding after child birth 3.
Use of low dose hormonal contraception 4.
The more children a woman has 5.
Giving birth late 6.
Tubal ligation 7.
Hysterectomy 8.
Radiation therapy 9.
Chemotherapy 10.
Biological therapy Early diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis of ovarian cancer starts with physical examination, pelvic examination, blood test and transvaginal ultrasound.
All these diagnosis must be confirmed with surgery to examine the abdominal cavity, biopsies of tissue samples and examination of cancer cells in the abdominal fluid.
Stages of Ovarian Cancer Stage 1, - this is often confined to one or both ovaries.
Here the patient is treated with unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, where only the affected ovary and fallopian tube is removed.
Stage 2, - involves either one or both ovaries is involved and has spread to the uterus and fallopian tubes or other sites in the pelvic.
Here the hysterectomy is usually performed.
Stage 3,- if one or both of the ovaries is involved and has spread to lymph nodes or other sites outside the pelvic but still within the abdominal cavity.
Stage 4, - if one or both ovaries is involved and has spread outside the abdomen or has spread to the inside of the liver.
Treatment of Ovarian Cancer The treatment depends on which stage of the disease, the histologic cycle, the patient age and the extent based on biopsies performed during surgery.
Medically there are 3 types of treatment usually performed 1, Radical hysterectomy - this is the surgical removal of the uterus, the ligaments and connective tissues that hold the uterus in place.
2,Chemotherapy - this is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
3,Radiation therapy - here high energy rays are used to damage cancer cells and stop them from growing.
Summary on how to reduce Ovarian Cancer 1, Women who have any of these symptoms (vaginal bleeding, back pain, pelvic pain, bloating, abdominal pain, constipation, weight loss) almost daily for more than one week should see their doctor, preferably a gynaecologist.
2, Prompt medical evaluation may lead to detection of ovarian cancer at the earliest possible stage of disease and early stage diagnosis is associated with improve prognosis.
3, Occasionally an ovarian cyst is detected on a routine gynaecological examination.