All about ovarian cancer

It often goes undetected owing to its vague symptoms. DR BRIGID MONDA share some early warning signs and risk factors

Our bodies are made up of healthy cells that constantly divide to replace old, damaged or dead cells.

Normal cells are team players, genetically programmed with ‘on and off switches’ that make sure they divide at the right time, at the right rate and die on time or when they present a danger to the greater good.

Normal cells divide and reproduce many times over in the course of a lifetime. Each time this occurs, the ‘on and off switches’ must make sure that it happens right every time. If this does not happen, as it does sometimes, the body may develop abnormal cells like cancerous cells.

How these cancerous cells behave is dependent on where in the body they formed and the specific mutations they have acquired. But the process from healthy cell to cancerous ones is similar for all types of cancer including ovarian cancer. So how does it manifest?

Every woman is born with a pair of ovaries, one on each side of the uterus, each about the size and shape of an almond.

They contain a woman’s store of eggs and are also small ‘chemical factories’ producing the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone that regulate the menstrual cycle.

Cancer of the ovary continues to be a troubling cancer for modern medicine. Its exact cause is not known and one of the biggest problems with it is that it is an insidious disease with few warning signs and symptoms until it has spread to other parts of the body. This makes it difficult to treat successfully as it is often diagnosed too late.

Abdominal pain

Its symptoms are vague like abdominal pain, bloating or pressure in the belly, nausea, gas, or changes in bowel habits like constipation or diarrhea.

Others are feeling full too quickly during meals, urinating more frequently, pressure and pain in the pelvis, back, or legs, feeling very tired all the time, heavy periods or bleeding after menopause.

There are factors that increase the risk of one developing the disease like women who have a mother, daughter, or sister with ovarian cancer.

If a mother had ovarian cancer, her daughter’s chances of developing it increase to one in 20.

If two close members of her family have it, the chances can get as high as 50 per cent.

Also women with a family history of cancer of the breast, uterus, colon, or rectum, or women who themselves have had these same cancers.

Age also plays a role, as most women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are over 55 years or after menopause.

Risk factors

Older women who have never been pregnant, use of some forms of hormone replacement therapy, use of fertility drugs, alcohol abuse, obesity and a diet high in saturated fats also increase the risks.

Factors that reduce the risk of a woman developing this deadly disease include the use of combined hormonal contraceptives like the oral contraceptive pill. Using the pill for a total of five years can decrease your risk by as much as 60 per cent.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding are also protective with the risk reduced by almost 20 per cent for every pregnancy a woman has.

Tubal ligation to prevent pregnancy has also been found to be beneficial as is Aspirin used three times a week. Vitamin D, healthy fats like omega 3 and increased fruits and vegetables also help reduce the risk.

Exercise is also important because it reduces obesity.