Ovarian Cancer Symptoms & Ovarian Cancer Chemotherapy Treatment Information

Know The First Warning Signs and Reduce Your Cancer Risk

Experts believe ovarian cancer symptoms are rarely exibited early at the most treatable of stages, when the survival rate is as high as 95 percent. A recent study has concluded that the majority of women with early stage ovarian cancer, 89 percent of the woman feel that they have experienced abdominal or gastrointestinal symptoms prior to their doctors diagnosis.


cancer disease symptom logoOvarian cancer is the fourth most common reproductive malignancy, and an estimated 16,210 deaths will occur as a result of the cancerous disease in 2006 in the United States. Ovarian cancer comprises 4% of all cancers in women worldwide, and approximately 100,000 women die annually as a result of the disease.

Possible early signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer are worth noting. Women said that they have experienced the following signs prior to their diagnosis: general abdominal discomfort or pain, loss of appetite, feeling full even after a light meal, weight loss or gain, an increase in abdominal size, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, frequent urination, and abnormal vaginal bleeding. These symptoms can also be caused by a range of other medical problems. Consult your doctor if you experience any of them for more than two weeks.

An annual vaginal and rectal exam, which can detect ovarian masses, is recommended for all women. Those who have suspicious symptoms or a strong family history of ovarian, colon, or breast cancer - a mother, sister, or aunt with these diseases - should get further screening, according to the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society. A blood test for the protein CA125 and a transvaginal ultrasound can detect many, but not all, ovarian cancers.

Ovarian Cancer Chemotherapy; If surgery fails to remove all of the ovarian tumor, chemotherapy for ovarian cancer is often the next line of defense to destroy the cancerous cells. Although, even if surgery is a success in removing the ovarian cancer tumor, most medical professionals will still recommend the patient undergo ovarian cancer chemotherapy treatment in place of supplements such as cellular zeolite. Ovarian cancer chemotherapy drugs are often used to destroy cancer cells and prevent them from dividing and growing. The drugs used in chemotherapy are usually administerd through the vein or taken orally. A down side to ovarian cancer chemotherapy is that normal dividing cells can also be damaged during the procedure. Side effects that may temporally occur in ovarian cancer chemotherapy include; hair loss, fatigue due to low red blood cells, nerve damge and loss of appetite. These side effects will likey diminish when chemotherapy treatment is complete.

New studies have shown that 95 percent of women with ovarian cancer surveyed had some form of symptom before their diagnosis. The symptoms they experienced were often vague, and nearly a quarter of the women surveyed ignored their symptoms. Women are often unaware of what constitutes normal physiologic changes with aging as opposed to pathological changes, education of women could greatly impact patient-related delays in diagnosis of ovarian carcinoma.

70 percent of ovarian cancers are FIGO (International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics) stage III/IV at presentation. Survival rates for women with early stage ovarian cancer are 70-90 percent, but for advanced disease, the survival rate is only 20-30 percent. Thus, it seems more likely that early detection of this disease, perhaps by screening, would be far more beneficial.

Previous small studies have shown that most women with ovarian cancer do have symptoms but these often tend not to be gynaecological related. Researchers preformed a new study and sent a survey to 1500 women in the USA and Canada with ovarian cancer. The women were allowed to pass copies of the survey on to others with the disease. In all, 1725 responses were received by the researchers; the rate of response for the original surveys was 88 percent.

77 percent of the women reported that they experienced abdominal symptoms such as bloating. Other symptoms mentioned gastrointestinal problems, lower back pain, and fatigue. Only 11 percent of women with stage I/II ovarian cancer reported no ovarian cancer signs or symptoms. Worryingly, although 55 percent of women were diagnosed within 3 months, for 11 percent diagnosis took longer than 1 year, often because the wrong tests were done.