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Ovarian Cancer

Get the facts on Ovarian Cancer treatment, diagnosis, staging, causes, types, symptoms. Information and current news about clinical trials and trial-related data, Ovarian Cancer prevention, screening, research, statistics and other Ovarian Cancer related topics. We answer all your qestions about Ovarian Cancer.

Question: How early should ovarian cancer be detected? If ovarian cancer is detected early, there is a greater chance of treating it and better prognosis. How soon after the cancer first begins does it have to be detected? Are we talking days, weeks, months?

Answer: I always thought is was undetectable. FYI, It is unknown what percentage of early-stage ovarian cancer produces symptoms. The vast majority of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer do experience symptoms. However, since most of these women are diagnosed in more advanced stages, it's impossible to tell how many of them had symptoms before the cancer started to spread. It IS known that 90% of women who are diagnosed in Stage I come to their doctors with symptoms before diagnosis, and also that far too many cases of ovarian cancer take months to diagnose - a recent study showed that almost half took more than three months, and 11% took longer than a year. So it seems logical to assume that some substantial percentage of women do have early symptoms. - The common symptoms are non-specific - usually caused by other things. The list below contains a number of possible symptoms of ovarian cancer. But these symptoms can also result from a wide variety of non-cancerous conditions. If a woman has trouble zipping up her jeans, she's more likely to blame middle-aged spread than ovarian cancer. Thankfully, a gas pain isn't ordinarily a dire signal. Still, if a woman suddenly starts experiencing any of the symptoms below, and they persist for more than a 2-3 weeks, she should get those symptoms checked out. - There is no one "marker symptom". Although abdominal swelling/bloating is the most often-mentioned first symptom, some studies show that even this is true only for a minority of ovarian cancer cases. Because each symptom will affect only some women, it is vital that women educate themselves about the whole constellation of symptoms associated with ovarian cancer. - Denial. Of course, no one wants to think about cancer. But think about this: The lifetime risk of women worldwide for ovarian cancer is 1 in 70. In the U.S. it is 1 in 55. Think about your high school graduating class. Your church. Your workplace. The numbers of women you know. How many of them are likely to get ovarian cancer? OVARIAN CANCER IS NOT RARE. Women MUST begin to educate themselves about this insidious disease. WARNING SYMPTOMS OF OVARIAN CANCER Contact your MD if you develop one or more of these symptoms and they persist for 2-3 weeks: -Abdominal Swelling/Bloating/Clothes Too Tight -Abdominal/Pelvic Pain or Pressure or Feeling "Full" -Gastrointestinal Symptoms (such as gas, indigestion, nausea, or changes in bowel movements) -Vaginal Bleeding or Discharge -Urinary Problems - Urgency, Burning, or Spasms -Fatigue and/or Fever -Pain During Intercourse -Back Pain -Difficulty Breathing


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