Ovarian Cancer: Know Your Risk
Ovarian
cancer develops when cells in the ovaries
begin to grow in an uncontrolled fashion and
invade nearby tissues or spread throughout
the body.
Despite advances in chemotherapy,
the death rate from ovarian cancer has not
changed significantly in more than four decades:
Ovarian cancer is still the fifth most common
cancer among women. In fact, half of all deaths
from cancer of the genital tract are due to
ovarian cancer.
Ovarian Cancer Risk Factors
The vast majority of ovarian cancers are found at advanced stages. There are few, if any, early symptoms of the disease, which typically cannot be found during a routine physician's exam. It is important to recognize the risk factors of ovarian cancer.
The risk factors of ovarian cancer include:
- Personal or Family History of Breast, Ovarian or Colon Cancer - If you have a strong family history of ovarian cancer, you may want to talk with your health care provider about having a blood test to look for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene changes. Women who inherit changes in one or both of these genes have a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer.
- Increasing Age - Most women are over age 55 when diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
- Pregnancy/Reproductive History - Older women who have never been pregnant or who had their first pregnancy after the age of 35 are at higher risk of ovarian cancer.
- Other Cancer - Women who have had endometrial or breast cancer appear to be at higher risk of developing ovarian cancer.
Having a risk factor does not mean that you will get ovarian cancer, but you should talk with your practitioner about your ovarian cancer risk, especially if any of the above risk factors pertain to you.
Symptoms
Because ovarian cancer does not cause many symptoms in its early stages, 75 to 80 percent of ovarian cancer cases are not found until the cancer has spread. Symptoms of ovarian cancer occurring in later stages are most likely caused by the pressure of the growing cancer.
Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer |
- Abdominal swelling or pain
- Vaginal bleeding between periods or after menopause
- Bloating, gas, indigestion or cramps
- Pelvic pain
- Loss of appetite
- Feeling full after a small meal, or feeling full very easily
- Changes in bowel or bladder habits
- Weight loss or weight gain
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All of these symptoms are non-specific, and could represent a variety of different conditions; however, contact your gynecologist if you exhibit any of these warning signs or symptoms.
Screening/Detection
Ideally, a screening test for ovarian cancer would save many lives. Patients who are diagnosed with early ovarian cancer tend to respond to treatment better than patients with more advanced cancers. If a patient is diagnosed at the earliest stage of ovarian cancer, the five-year survival rate is over 90 percent.
Currently, there is no consistently reliable, accurate screening test to detect ovarian cancer. An annual pelvic exam is recommended for women age 21 and older, and an annual rectovaginal exam for women age 35 and above.
A traditional Pap test does not detect ovarian cancer. A few tests are being studied to screen for ovarian cancer, but further data is needed before they become routine for ovarian cancer screening. For women at high risk for ovarian cancer, physicians may recommend one of the following:
- Transvaginal sonography – An ultrasound performed with a small probe placed in the vagina.
- CA-125 blood test – Determines if the level of a tumor marker called CA-125 has increased in the blood. Also, researchers have begun studies on another blood test for ovarian cancer, but it is still in its early stages.
If you are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, your gynecologist will refer you to a gynecologic oncologist for further examination and treatment. The treatment for ovarian cancer depends on the stage of the disease and the age and health of the patient. Options often include a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
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