22 Facts About Ovarian cancer

Death from ovarian cancer is more common in North America and Europe than in Africa and Asia.

Risk of developing ovarian cancer is less for women who have fewer menstrual cycles, no menstrual cycles, breast feeding, take oral contraceptives, have multiple pregnancies, and have a pregnancy at an early age.

The risk of developing ovarian cancer is reduced in women who have had tubal ligation, both ovaries removed, or hysterectomy .

Family history of ovarian cancer is a risk factor for ovarian cancer.

Diagnosis of ovarian cancer starts with a physical examination, a blood test, and transvaginal ultrasound.

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Serum alpha-fetoprotein, neuron-specific enolase, and lactate dehydrogenase can be measured in young girls and adolescents with suspected ovarian tumors as younger women with ovarian cancer are more likely to have malignant germ cell tumors.

Widely recognized method of estimating the risk of malignant ovarian cancer is the risk of malignancy index, calculated based on an initial workup.

Pulmonary small cell ovarian cancer usually affects both ovaries of older women and looks like oat-cell carcinoma of the lung.

Ovarian cancer can be a secondary cancer, the result of metastasis from a primary cancer elsewhere in the body.

Metastasis in ovarian cancer is very common in the abdomen and occurs via exfoliation, where cancer cells burst through the ovarian capsule and are able to move freely throughout the peritoneal cavity.

Usually, ovarian cancer does not metastasize to the liver, lung, brain, or kidneys unless it is a recurrent disease; this differentiates ovarian cancer from many other forms of cancer.

Women with a significant family history for ovarian cancer are often referred to a genetic counselor to see if testing for BRCA mutations would be beneficial.

Once it is determined that ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer is present, treatment was scheduled by a gynecologic oncologist .

Adjuvant chemotherapy has been found to improve survival and reduce the risk of ovarian cancer recurring compared to no adjuvant therapy in women with early stage epithelial ovarian cancer.

Second-line chemotherapy can be given after the Ovarian cancer becomes symptomatic because no difference in survival is seen between treating asymptomatic and symptomatic recurrences.

Palliative care can entail treatment of symptoms and complications of the Ovarian cancer, including pain, nausea, constipation, ascites, bowel obstruction, edema, pleural effusion, and mucositis.

Ovarian cancer has a significant effect on quality of life, psychological health and well-being.

For cases where a diagnosis is made early in the disease, when the Ovarian cancer is still confined to the primary site, the five-year survival rate is 92.

Complications of ovarian cancer can include spread of the cancer to other organs, progressive function loss of various organs, ascites, and intestinal obstructions, which can be fatal.

Ovarian cancer is most commonly diagnosed after menopause, between the ages of 60 and 64.

The UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening is testing a screening technique that combines CA-125 blood tests with transvaginal ultrasound.

However, trials of the antibody and VEGF inhibitor bevacizumab, which can slow the growth of new blood vessels in the Ovarian cancer, have shown promising results, especially in combination with pazopanib, which slows the process of blood vessel growth.