Some years ago I asked if I knew what the most deadly gynecological cancer was and I said, "Well, breast cancer, of course." Oh, how I was wrong. The American Cancer Society estimates that the average five-year survival of breast cancer at any time to actually be 89 percent. While it is not good that the cancer is a pretty good rate. The correct answer to the question is ovarian cancer, and survival rate five years (estimated by the American Cancer Society) is only 46 percent. We have to figure out why this cancer is so deadly.
Cancer is a dangerous and mysterious to people who do not know much about it. Well, everyone is made up of cells, the cells are what make the fabric and the fabric is what makes our bodies. Normally, when a cell gets old and tired like we are dying and a new cell takes its place. Our body produces new cells growing and dividing healthy cells. Sometimes our body overproduces cells and that is when the tumors (masses of tissue) are formed. These tumors are not always cancer, when they are called benign tumors. When they are a malignant cancer that is called, which are those that can be life threatening. Both types of tumors can be removed but the cancer are more likely to grow again and they alone can also spread to different parts of your body. When this happens, the cancer cells break away from the original tumor and the flow of blood to use as a highway to travel around your body. When cancer cells spread as it is called metastasis and cancer may start going to new tumors. If these cells get to any of its organs and tumors start out new and this is when damage can be done.
They call ovarian cancer because the tumor first begins in the ovaries and is comprised of more productive ovary cells. The ovaries are part of the female reproductive system and attach to the uterus through the fallopian tubes. When a malignant tumor starts to grow these areas may also be affected because of their proximity to the ovaries. When the tumor begins to kill cancer cells are normal cells in the abdomen first, because it is closer to where the reproductive system is located. Then, as I said earlier that cancer cells may begin to affect the lymph nodes and enter the bloodstream to travel to different organs.
Ovarian cancer is so deadly because it is very difficult to detect. Each year more than 14,600 women die from ovarian cancer in the United States. This may not seem like much when you think of the millions of people who live here, but when about 20,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year that number seems like a lot. So this means that on average 7 out of 10 women will die of this disease and this is all because it is very difficult to detect. In order to detect what you have to know what the symptoms. The most common symptoms are pain in the abdomen, pelvis, back or legs because the cancer is in your body. You can also have a swollen belly, as it can fill up with fluid. You will also feel very tired all the time and have a bit of nausea, indigestion, gas, constipation and even diarrhea. Less common symptoms would be the lack of breath, frequent urination and unusual vaginal bleeding. However, these symptoms are very general and disease can cause many other diseases and is therefore difficult to detect because ovarian cancer is not typically the first thing we think when we have one or more of these symptoms.
Most women who think that if there was a problem that arose in their Pap smear, a test once a year that women receive from your doctor. However, a Pap test is only the detection of cervical cancer and can not be used to diagnose ovarian cancer. When women go to their doctor for a Pap test he or she must do a pelvic exam, so, for this will feel the ovaries and nearby organs for any lumps or changes in shape and / or size. Often doctors will not be able to feel a tumor until they have a considerable size. We therefore hope that further tests and pelvic exams to diagnose this cancer. If women who have abdominal distention or pain and to see a doctor, you can check your abdomen for fluid buildup. If some find some of a sample can be taken for detection of ovarian cancer cells as part of the diagnosis. There are also blood tests that your doctor check your level of CA-125 to see if it is high. The CA-125 is a substance found on the surface of ovarian cancer cells but also in normal tissue, is therefore a high level could indicate cancer. Unfortunately this test can not be used as the only test to diagnose ovarian cancer. It is mainly used to track a woman who has been diagnosed and is undergoing treatment or early detection of cancer recurrence after treatment is completed. The next way to get a diagnosis is to have an ultrasound. There are two different types of ultrasounds can be done, the first is the least invasive of the two. This is where you take the ultrasound device and press up against the abdomen and produces sound waves that bounce off organs to produce an image to see it. By using this you would be able to get a picture of the ovaries to see if there was a tumor or abnormality. The second type of ultrasound that can make a transvaginal ultrasound and do the same things that regular however, this device is inserted into the vagina of a much better picture of the ovaries. The last test to help diagnose this cancer is a biopsy. Biopsy will be done only if the blood test and one of ultrasonics have indicated there may be a tumor. A biopsy is when a sample of tissue or fluid to check for cancer cells. Once the biopsy has become a pathologist examine the sample under a microscope for cancer cells. If there are some that are then described as grade 1, 2 or 3 and this is based on how abnormal the cells look.
Once doctors determined that cancer cells are present they have to determine at what stage of the disease is before starting any treatment. To find out what stage the cancer is in the doctor must know the extent of tumor is what we have discussed above and also may have to run a series of more tests, such as a CT scan or chest radiograph. CT is where you give a bit of contrast material and the machine then take several pictures to get a clearer picture of the pelvis and abdomen to see any tumors or abdominal fluid. The chest radiograph is used to see if the cancer has spread to the lungs and if there is any fluid buildup there.
There are four stages of ovarian cancer, the first stage is called stage 1. Phase 1 is when cancer cells are found in one or both ovaries or abdominal fluid. Only 15 percent of women diagnosed with stage 1 and have a survival rate at 5 years of 93.8 percent (statistics). Stage 2 is when the cancer has spread to other reproductive organs such as the fallopian tubes and uterus. Can also be found in the abdominal fluid and other tissues in the pelvic area. The survival rate at 5 years for Stage 2 is 72.8 percent and only 17 percent of women diagnosed with this step. Phase 3 is when the cancer has spread to lymph nodes and can also be found outside the liver. This is the most common stage women are diagnosed (62 percent), with only 28.2 percent survival rate at 5 years (statistics). The last stage is the stage 4 and this is when the cancer may be found in the lungs or any other body. Thus, at this point that has traveled out of both pelvic and abdominal areas. This has the lowest survival rate of 27.3 percent and the lowest percentage of women diagnosed in 7 percent (statistics).
Once the doctor has determined what stage they can begin treatment accordingly. Most women undergo surgery to kill cancer cells and both ovaries and fallopian tubes, uterus, nearby lymph nodes and omentum, which is a thin pad of fat covering the intestines. If only one stage doctors sometimes leave the uterus intact and only have one ovary and fallopian tube, but this depends on your age and if you want to get pregnant and bear children. If cancer is one of the other stages (2, 3 or 4), then you should go further and eliminate cancer as much as possible. You can also make chemotherapy as a form of treatment. This is when "cancer" drugs are given to kill the cancer cell. Medications can be administered by any one of the insertion into the vein (IV), intraperitoneally (IP), which is administered directly into the abdomen through a thin tube, or orally by tablets (cancer ovarian 13). Side effects of chemotherapy can be hair loss, vomiting and diarrhea. This is because the drugs also harm normal cells, which can damage the hair cells (hair) and cells lining the digestive tract (vomiting and diarrhea), but can also damage blood cells and easy bruising your body and be more susceptible to infections because their blood cells are those that help fight off infections.
From now on we can not explain why some women develop this cancer and another does not, but there are some women who are at greater risk. If you have any women in your family has had ovarian cancer, especially his mother, daughter or sister of you or a family member are at higher risk. But also, if you or a family member have had your uterus, colon, rectum, breast cancer or you or a family member will be at a higher risk. Most women who are diagnosed with this disease are over 55 years and have never been pregnant. If you or a family member is at an increased risk you want to talk to a family member to ensure you are aware of these risks. So I would encourage people at risk of talking to your doctor and see if something can be done to ensure that if they have been some signs of cancer could be detected early.
It may recommend genetic testing to see if you have a certain gene mutation BRCA 1 or BRCA 2, which has been associated with ovarian cancer and breast cancer. If you're going to have this test done, you must provide a detailed family history and give a blood sample. Blood tests are done for mutations in their DNA, specifically in search of genes BRCA 1 and 2. In obtaining the results that will let you know if there is a mutation, and if you knew for sure are at an increased risk. If you can not find a mutation that still puts you in a risk category based on their family history. This test has been very important in determining the links between certain mutations and ovarian cancer. The more data we can collect the better we are searching for a connection.
The most important thing to remember is that this is the deadliest gynecological cancer with very nonspecific symptoms, 15,000 women die from this cancer each year. If you or someone you know has any of these symptoms, talk to them and encourage them to contact their doctor in the hope of early detection. The earlier the detection the better chances you or a family member has become one of the 15,000.
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