What Women Need to Know About Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women, and causes more deaths than any other reproductive cancer.

Ovarian cancer is rare, but deadly. It affects 1 in 72 women.

On average, 43.7% of people with the disease can survive for another 5 years depending on the stage at which they are diagnosed. Only nearly 27% of people diagnosed when the disease has metastasized can live for 5 years.

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According to the National Cancer Institute, the biggest risk factor for the disease is family history. The risk of developing the disease increases threefold if at least one relative (mother, sister, daughter) in the family has the disease.

This is because these families have the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which increase the risk of developing the disease by 15 to 40 percent. These women usually develop the disease before age 50. Meanwhile, women with no family history of the disease have only a 1.4 percent risk of developing the disease. However, 85 to 90 percent of cases have no clear genetic link.

Fertility medications, postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy, and obesity have also been linked to an increased risk. Overall, the risk increases with age.

The risk appears to increase with the number of times a woman ovulates. During menstruation, eggs are released from the ovaries into the fallopian tubes, and recent studies suggest that the fluid released into the ovaries along with the eggs during menstruation contains growth factors and other molecules that damage the DNA of nearby fallopian tube cells, says Ronny Drapkin, PhD, an assistant professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School.

In addition, evidence suggests that the most deadly form of ovarian cancer actually begins in cells at the end of the fallopian tubes—not in the ovaries. These findings suggest that anything that reduces the number of times a woman ovulates also reduces her risk of ovarian cancer. Breastfeeding and birth control pills both halt ovulation, and studies have linked these factors to a reduced risk, Drapkin says.

Symptom

One reason ovarian cancer is difficult to detect in its early stages is that it shares symptoms with other illnesses, such as digestive problems, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Some symptoms include:

- Bloating

- Persistent nausea, bloating or indigestion.

- Changes in bowel habits such as constipation or frequent urination.

- Poor appetite or feeling full quickly.

- Increase waist measurement.

- Tired quickly.

These symptoms are persistent and increasing. Because they are so common, researchers have looked at other signs of the disease, such as the frequency, severity, and duration of typical symptoms associated with the disease compared to similar diseases. In a study published in 2004, researchers compared women who went to the doctor and were diagnosed with the disease with those who were not.

They found that the combination of abdominal pain, pelvic pain, bloating, constipation and increased waist size was more common in women with the disease.

There is no evidence that screening tests help detect ovarian cancer. Pelvic exams may include an examination of the ovaries, but they often do not detect tumors until they are large.

Transvaginal ultrasound and blood tests that measure the concentration of the molecule CA-125 are also not accurate enough to help detect the disease.

According to Alobacsi.vn