Ovarian cancer is the fifth largest female cancers in US, with 4 000 new cases per year. But his prognosis remains very bleak as it is often discovered at a late stage. Panorama from an unknown disease.
Ovarian cancer is relatively uncommon. All too often discovered at a late stage, this cancer is difficult to treat. As it is detected late, ovarian cancer has a fairly bleak prognosis. Each year, 3 800 american die from that cancer. The survival rate of ovarian cancer is just over 30% in 5 years, while for breast cancer, it is about 75%.
Few women are genetically predisposed to ovarian cancer. Genetic factors were responsible for 5 to 10% of cancers of the ovary. Between 160 and 320 women are suffering from a hereditary cancer of the ovary annually. Family mutations of certain genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2 rarely, are known to predispose strongly to this cancer, with an earlier age (before age 50). Alteration of these genes is also responsible for predisposition to breast cancer.
Without beneficiating from screening test, ovarian cancer has long been nicknamed the silent killer because symptoms are supposed to appear at an advanced stage of the disease. But the results of a recent study could detect that kind of cancer more quickly.
Early detection is an incredible challenge: 70 to 90% of women with ovarian cancer detected at a primary stage are still alive five years after diagnosis against only 20 to 30% of those whose cancer was diagnosed at an advanced stage. And unfortunately, the second scenario is more often met ... Some figures show awareness of this scourge, female: 4 488 new cases and 3 508 deaths directly linked to the disease in the year 2006
Characteristic symptoms: Beware of the trio!
Researchers have followed 1 408 women who were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire about symptoms experienced with the previous year. Among the proposed events can include pelvic pain, abdominal, low back pain, the urge to urinate, constipation, weight loss, unexplained, and so on. The severity, duration and frequency of these signs were also informed. The same procedure was conducted on 128 women awaiting surgery for pelvic tumors, including ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer is no longer the silent undetectable killer . Even women with cancer at preliminary stages have signs. Paying attention to certain symptoms (or rather their frequency or severity), it may be possible to react in time!
The diagnosis of ovarian cancer is based on clinical examination, gynecological and a determination of tumor marker, supplemented by medical imaging examinations, including pelvic ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. But only the surgical exploration allows a complete diagnosis of the local extension of ovarian cancer.
Ovarian Cancer Early Detection
Sometimes, pre-menopausal women who discover they have a cyst don't need to follow any treatment if it turns that cyst is a small and functional one. All they must do is to have an ultrasound scan after a month, to check on the cyst, because there are chances that it will disappear without any treatment in a few weeks.
In the case of post-menopausal women, if a cyst is detected on one ovary, the risk of developing cancer is very low. More than half of this type of cysts will disappear in about 3 months. For detecting the ovarian cysts, there are ultrasound scans and blood tests for the CA132 protein. This post-menopausal women are advised to follow a ultrasound scan 4 months after the cysts have disappeared.
Sometimes, when the cyst is large, it causes symptoms or appears during pregnancy, the doctor might recommend a surgery operation to take the cyst out, because without looking at it under a microscope, it is difficult to say if it will turn into a cancerous one or not.
There exists a surgical technique called laparoscopy, which is proper to use when you want to remove smaller cysts. This method consists in two small cuts that are made in the lower abdomen and through those cuts air is blown into the pelvis so that the abdominal wall shall be lifted away from the organs inside. A laparoscope is then introduced into the abdomen, and the surgeon can see the internal organs. With the small tools attached to the laparoscope, the surgeon can make a little cut in the cyst and will drain the fluid away. He can also just take a sample from the cyst, to determine what kind it is.
Laparotomy is another surgical technique, which is recommended to be done when the cyst presents the risk of bursting or spilling while it's being removed. This operation requires a larger cut that must be made across the top of the pubic hairline, so the surgeon will have access through that cut to take out the cyst and sent it to the laboratory to see if it is cancerous or not.
If it turns out that the cyst is cancerous, the doctor might need to apply to you a treatment to remove both of the ovaries, the uterus, the omentum and some lymph nodes.
Every year, 6,800 new cases of ovarian cancer are discovered in the UK, and there are about 4,650 deaths per year caused by the ovarian cancer. The average age of woman that are diagnosed with ovarian cancer is 63, but this disease frequently appears between ages of 50 and 80, sometimes even at younger ages.
Using a long time oral contraceptives reduces the risk of ovarian cancer by three quarters, and this kind of cancer appears more often in women who have never had children than in those who have.
The cancer is hard to detect in early stages, but when it is caught in time and it is still confined to the ovaries, it can be cured with surgical treatment.
Both James S. Pendergraft & Groshan Fabiola are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
James S. Pendergraft has sinced written about articles on various topics from Health, Alternative Medicine and Bacterial Vaginosis. Florida Abortions Clinic. Dr. James S. Pendergraft opened the Orlando Women's Center in March 1996 to provide a full range of health care for women, including. James S. Pendergraft's top article generates over 12100 views. Bookmark James S. Pendergraft to your Favourites.
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