Ovaries are organs that produce female hormones and eggs and they are located in pelvis, one on each side of the uterus. Ovarian cancer usually originates in the ovaries or in the nearby areas of fallopian tubes and peritoneum. Most ovarian cancers start in the epithelial cells. If left untreated, the cancer can spread to other parts of body and called metastatic ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer may cause certain symptoms early, or as it grows larger. The most common symptoms of ovarian cancer include:
Women should be alert to any changes in their body and discuss them with their doctor. The earlier ovarian cancer is diagnosed, the more likely that treatment will be successful. Recommended tests for suspected ovarian cancer are:
This includes family and medical history taking, genetic counseling and testing, nutritional status, and abdominal and pelvic exam.
This includes complete blood count, blood chemistry profile with liver function tests, total serum protein, CA-125 and other tumor markers like HE4
Imaging of abdomen and pelvis is done using CT or MRI to detect the stage or spread of the disease.
is done using x-ray or CT to check for any metastasis/ spread to the lungs or pleura.
A biopsy of the suspected tissue in the abdomen may be done using fine needle aspiration or core biopsy or paracentesis (removal of fluid from the abdomen)to confirm the presence of ovarian cancer. This is usually performed only if upfront chemotherapy is planned.
For early stage and low-grade ovarian cancer, the gynaecological oncologist tries to save the unaffected ovary and fallopian tube and removes only the affected one.
Most women with advanced ovarian cancer will undergo surgery to remove both ovaries and fallopian tubes and the womb, including the cervix, respectively
The surgeon will try to remove as much of the cancer as possible, if it has spread to other areas in pelvis or abdomen.
