Welcome to Giddy's series for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Each week, we will tackle a different aspect of ovarian cancer and shed light on common misconceptions. This week, let's take a look at testing and treatment.
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month: Testing and Treatment
How is ovarian cancer diagnosed and what treatment options are available?
Ovarian cancer occurs when abnormal cells in the ovaries multiply rapidly and form a tumor. It ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women, and the American Cancer Society estimates that this year, about 21,410 women will receive an ovarian cancer diagnosis and about 13,770 women will die from ovarian cancer.
September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and Giddy is here to help walk you through everything you need to know about this disease. This week, we're discussing how ovarian cancer is diagnosed and what to expect during treatment.
True or False: There is no screening test to detect ovarian cancer.
True. Unfortunately, unlike many forms of cancer that can be found with screening tests, such as mammograms for breast cancer and Pap smears for cervical cancer, researchers have not yet found a way to screen for ovarian cancer. Instead, if ovarian cancer is suspected, your doctor will perform a complete pelvic exam, and may also recommend a transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) and the CA-125 blood test.
A TVUS can help identify the presence of a tumor, though it can't distinguish malignant from benign. The blood test measures the amount of a protein called CA-125. If the protein is at a high level, it may indicate ovarian cancer, but high levels can also be caused by such common conditions as endometriosis and pelvic inflammatory disease. Additionally, not everyone with ovarian cancer will have a high CA-125 level, so this test is not useful as a stand-alone detection method.
True or False: A biopsy is the only way to determine if a tumor is ovarian cancer.
True. While TVUS or other imaging tests and the CA-125 blood test can indicate there may be cancer, only a biopsy can determine for sure if cancer is present. A biopsy is the collection of a small tissue sample for analysis under a microscope. When ovarian cancer is suspected, the biopsy most often involves removing the tumor during surgery, and then sending the tissue to the lab for analysis.
True or False: It's not possible to determine at which stage ovarian cancer is.
False. Once a diagnosis of ovarian cancer is confirmed, a pathologist analyzes the cells under a microscope, and the information and imaging are used to help determine the stage of the cancer. Stages range from I to IV, indicating the origin of the cancer and how far it has spread. Early stages indicate the cancer is contained to the ovaries and nearby areas, and later stages indicate an increasing spread. Roughly 15 percent of women are diagnosed with stage I ovarian cancer, 19 percent with stage II, 60 percent with stage III and 6 percent with stage IV.
True or False: Survival rates typically decrease with advanced stage and aggressiveness of the cancer.
True. Average five-year survival rates (the percent of women who are alive five years after treatment) are 85 percent to 94 percent for stage I ovarian cancer, 57 percent to 78 percent for stage II, 39 percent to 59 percent for stage III, and 17 percent for stage IV. This is why it's so important to know the risk factors and symptoms of ovarian cancer, so you can have the best chance at survival.
True or False: Chemotherapy is usually the first step in treating ovarian cancer.
False. Surgery is commonly the first step in the treatment of ovarian cancer (in very advanced cases, chemotherapy may be recommended first). The removal of a single ovary may be recommended for very early-stage cancers, in which the cancer is localized to just one ovary and its fallopian tube.
For cancer confined to the ovaries, the removal of both may be recommended. In more advanced cases, or for women who don't wish to get pregnant in the future, surgical treatment may include the removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes, as well as the uterus, local lymph nodes and the omentum (a layer of abdominal fatty tissue).
True or False: Surgery is all that's needed to treat ovarian cancer.
False. Chemotherapy is commonly recommended after surgical treatment for ovarian cancer, to shrink large tumors, or before surgery to make the procedure easier and less invasive in more advanced cases. A 2003 study from the Journal of Clinical Oncology reported 80 percent of women under 55 with an early-stage ovarian cancer diagnosis received chemotherapy.
