After loosing a grandmother to Ovarian Cancer the same illness that took the life of actress Angelina Jolie's mother and late civil rights activist Coretta Scott King, it is my passion to urge men to become involved though it is a women's illness.
Men, I know it is very comfortable to talk about women's issues especially to your mothers and other relatives. However, if we do not learn to urge our mother's and other loved womens to go to the gyenocologist and be checked out frequently we could loose them to the illness of OC that I lost my grandmother.
The time is now to bring to focus a new type of illness many have never heard of but the relatives of one whom suffered or the very few victims whom life were taken but the disease. THE TIME IS NOW! Not to sound sexist or anything but men are the majority in America and the world in general and majorities can help miniorites because majorities have perks. It is like whites helping blacks during Jim Crow and slavery. The African Americans were the majority and the whites were the majority and helped them by maybe being nicer to them, vacations, and other ways that were deemed apporpiate for the time. Now, today women are fighting to be heard on ovarian cancer and the National Ovarian Cancer Alliance that I am apart of is full of women crying out to be heard. The time is now, now, now to be heard with them and offer any type of services, advocacy, and knowledege to help fight this loosing battle.
LET'S TAKE A STAND FOR CHANGE, AND BE THERE FOR OUR FEMALE LOVED ONES.
By robinsonwc
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Alternative Names
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Definition
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Ovarian cancer is cancer that starts in the ovaries. The ovaries are the female reproductive organs that produce eggs.
Causes
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A woman has a 1 in 67 chance of developing ovarian cancer. Ovarian
cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women, and it causes more
deaths than any other type of female reproductive cancer.
The cause is unknown.
The risk for developing ovarian cancer appears to be affected by
several factors. The more children a woman has and the earlier in life
she gives birth, the lower her risk of ovarian cancer. Certain genes
(BRCA1 and BRCA2) are responsible for a small number of ovarian cancer
cases. Women with a personal history of breast cancer or a family
history of breast or ovarian cancer have an increased risk for ovarian
cancer.
The use of fertility drugs may be associated with an increased
chance of developing ovarian cancer, although this is a subject of
ongoing debate.
The links between ovarian cancer and talc use, asbestos exposure, a
high-fat diet, and childhood mumps infection are controversial and have
not been definitively proven.
Older women are at highest risk. About two-thirds of the deaths from
ovarian cancer occur in women age 55 and older. About 25% of ovarian
cancer deaths occur in women between 35 and 54 years of age.
Ovarian cancer symptoms are often vague and non-specific, so women
and doctors often blame the symptoms on other, more common conditions.
By the time the cancer is diagnosed, the tumor has often spread beyond
the ovaries.
Symptoms
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- Sense of pelvic heaviness
- Vague lower abdominal discomfort
- Vaginal bleeding
- Weight gain or loss
- Abnormal menstrual cycles
- Unexplained back pain that worsens over time
- Increased abdominal girth
- Non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms:
- Increased gas
- Indigestion
- Lack of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Inability to ingest usual volumes of food
- Bloating
Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:
Exams and Tests
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A physical examination may reveal increased abdominal girth and ascites (fluid within the abdominal cavity). A pelvic examination may reveal an ovarian or abdominal mass.
Tests include:
- CBC
- Blood chemistry
- CA125
- Quantitative serum HCG (blood pregnancy test)
- Alpha fetoprotein
- Urinalysis
- GI series
- Exploratory laparotomy
- Ultrasound
- Abdominal CT scan or MRI of abdomen
Treatment
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Surgery is the preferred treatment and is often needed to diagnose ovarian cancer.
Studies have shown that surgery performed by a specialist in gynecologic oncology results in a higher cure rate.
Chemotherapy is used as after surgery to treat any remaining disease. Chemotherapy can also be used if the cancer comes back.
Radiation therapy is rarely used in ovarian cancer in the United States.
Support Groups
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For additional information and resources, cancer support group.
Outlook (Prognosis)
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Ovarian cancer is rarely diagnosed in its early stages. It is
usually quite advanced by the time diagnosis is made. The outcome is
often poor.
- About 76% of women with ovarian cancer survive 1 year after diagnosis.
- About 45% live longer than 5 years after diagnosis.
- If diagnosis is made early in the disease and treatment is received
before the cancer spreads outside the ovary, the 5-year survival rate
is about 94%.
Possible Complications
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- Spread of the cancer to other organs
- Loss of organ function
- Fluid in the abdomen (ascites)
- Blockage of the intestines
When to Contact a Medical Professional
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Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you are a
woman over 40 years old who has not recently had a pelvic examination.
Routine pelvic examinations are recommended for all women over 20 years
old.
Call for an appointment with your provider if you have symptoms of ovarian cancer.
Prevention
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Having regular pelvic examinations may decrease the overall risk.
Screening tests for ovarian cancer remains a very active research area.
To date, there is no cost-effective screening test for ovarian cancer,
so more than 50% of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the late
stages of the disease.
Recent research has shown that surgery to remove the ovaries in
women with mutation in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can dramatically
reduce their risk of developing ovarian cancer.
References
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American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures 2006. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society; 2006.
Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Niederhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKena WG. Clinical Oncology. 3rd ed. Orlando, Fl: Churchill Livingstone; 2004:2317.
Update Date:
9/11/2006
Updated by: Rita Nanda, M.D., Department of
Medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago Medical
Center, Chicago, IL. Review
provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
Neat links and HTML code in this blog! I like all of the illustrations, too.