Women's Health: Ovarian Cancer

I receive random emails daily from concerned friends who pass along bogus information regarding computer viruses, Amber alerts, and other such scares. Generally, a quick check on Snopes.com determines their veracity in under a minute (Note: verify before spamming your friends!).

However, the email that is circulating on Ovarian Cancer is valid, and I included the information I found from the NIH below. Please do read this information, as it could save your life or someone you love.

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Below is information gathered directly from the NIH (National Institutes of Health) website:

A woman has a 1 in 67 chance of developing ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women, and it causes more deaths than any other type of female reproductive cancer.

The cause is unknown.

Older women are at highest risk. About two-thirds of the deaths from ovarian cancer occur in women age 55 and older. About 25% of ovarian cancer deaths occur in women between 35 and 54 years of age.

Ovarian cancer symptoms are often vague and non-specific, so women and doctors often blame the symptoms on other, more common conditions. By the time the cancer is diagnosed, the tumor has often spread beyond the ovaries.

Symptoms

• Sense of pelvic heaviness
• Vague lower abdominal discomfort
• Vaginal bleeding
• Weight gain or loss
• Abnormal menstrual cycles
• Unexplained back pain that worsens over time
• Increased abdominal girth
• Non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms:
  • Increased gas
  • Indigestion
  • Lack of appetite
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Inability to ingest usual volumes of food
  • Bloating

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• Increased urinary frequency or urgency
• Excessive hair growth

There may be no symptoms until late in the disease.

Signs and tests

A physical examination may reveal increased abdominal girth and ascites (fluid within the abdominal cavity). A pelvic examination may reveal an ovarian or abdominal mass.

Tests include:

• CBC
• Blood chemistry
• CA125 *****
  
• Quantitative serum HCG (blood pregnancy test)
• Alpha fetoprotein
• Urinalysis
• GI series
• Exploratory laparotomy
• Ultrasound
• Abdominal CT scan or MRI of abdomen