What are the symptoms of ovarian cancer? Early stage disease causes minimal or no symptoms. Later-stage disease can cause abdominal pain, bloating, and difficulty eating. Some of the physical signs of ovarian cancer include abdominal pain, pelvic mass, and weight loss. Some people also experience ascites or venous thrombosis. Symptoms of ovarian cancer vary from person to person. In general, the disease is diagnosed when it has spread to other parts of the body.
A doctor will conduct a thorough medical history and physical exam to determine whether you have ovarian cancer. She will also perform a pelvic examination. The doctor will perform a biopsy, which is a type of tissue or fluid sample. The biopsy will look for cancer cells. If the cancer has spread to other organs, surgery is the main treatment. This type of surgery involves removing cancerous cells from the affected organs.
The cancer is staged based on where the cancer has spread. Stage 1A is confined to the ovaries and has not spread to lymph nodes or other pelvic tissues. Stage 1B and stage 1C cancers are located on the ovary’s outer surface. Stage 2A and stage 2B involve tumors that have spread to the uterus and fallopian tubes. A stage 3C tumor has spread beyond the ovaries and has metastasized to the fallopian tubes and uterus.
The American Cancer Society’s survival rates for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are based on data from the National Institute for Health and Safety (SEER) database, and include patients diagnosed from 2004 to 2010. It’s the fifth-leading cause of cancer death among women in the United Kingdom, with a death rate of 21.6 per 100,000. Fortunately, modern treatments are available for ovarian cancer. There is hope! For women suffering from this disease, the best course of action is early detection.
Surgical treatment for ovarian cancer is usually followed by chemotherapy. The procedure itself is often complex, and doctors use a team of surgeons to perform the operation. Depending on the stage of the disease and the extent of the tumor, the type of surgery performed may include the removal of the ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes, and fatty tissue covering the abdomen. If surgery isn’t enough to remove the tumor completely, targeted therapies and chemotherapy may be recommended instead.
Early stages of ovarian cancer are difficult to detect, as the symptoms can mimic those of other conditions. The disease usually spreads to other areas of the body by the time symptoms are noticed. In addition to a physical examination, a doctor will perform a medical history and feel the pelvic area. Symptoms of ovarian cancer can include pain or a burning sensation. These symptoms are often vague and difficult to distinguish from those of other diseases.
In addition to the symptoms of early stage ovarian cancer, patients with epithelial ovarian cancer may also have a peritoneal tumor, which starts in the egg-producing cells in the ovaries. A woman can develop either type of ovarian cancer depending on their age. A woman’s risk for developing either type increases as she ages. And the chances of developing the disease increase with age.
