Ovarian cancer history and symptoms
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Huda A. Karman, M.D.
Overview
Historically ovarian cancer was called the “silent killer” because symptoms were not thought to develop until the chance of cure was poor. However, recent studies have shown this term is untrue and that some symptoms are much more likely to occur in women with ovarian cancer than women in the general population.
Symptoms
- Ovarian cancer can be diagnosed based on the clinical presentation, stage of the disease, the condition of the patient, and the presence of peritoneal carcinoma [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
- If symptoms suggestive of epithelial ovarian cancer, pelvic exam and pelvic imaging should be done to look for adnexal mass
- Because ovarian cancer is diagnosed histologically, surgical exploration is the main approach for the definitive diagnosis of ovarian cancer
- Symptoms can vary based on the advancement of the disease:
- Women with advanced disease presents with acute symptoms such as:
- Shortness of breath: due to malignant pleural effusion
- Nausea and vomiting: due to bowel obstruction
- Symptoms of venous thromboembolism (VTE) depending on the site of the thrombus and its extent such as:
- Severe pain and swelling in the lower limb
- Shortness of breath with pulmonary emboli
- Women with early, late or advanced disease presents with subacute symptoms such as:
- Gastrointestinal symptoms: due to ascites, metastasis, bowel obstruction or distension of the ovarian tube
- Abdominal pain
- Abdominal bloating
- Abdominal distension
- Constipation
- Early satiety
- Nausea and vomiting
- Urinary symptoms:
- Increase frequency
- Increase urgency
- Symptoms related to adnexal mass
- Pelvic pain
- Pelvic pressure
- Palpable abdominal or pelvic mass
- Constitutional symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Other symptoms
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Rectal bleeding
- Painful intercourse
- Gastrointestinal symptoms: due to ascites, metastasis, bowel obstruction or distension of the ovarian tube
References
- ↑ White RH, Chew HK, Zhou H, Parikh-Patel A, Harris D, Harvey D; et al. (2005). "Incidence of venous thromboembolism in the year before the diagnosis of cancer in 528,693 adults". Arch Intern Med. 165 (15): 1782–7. doi:10.1001/archinte.165.15.1782. PMID 16087828.
- ↑ Sørensen HT, Mellemkjaer L, Olsen JH, Baron JA (2000). "Prognosis of cancers associated with venous thromboembolism". N Engl J Med. 343 (25): 1846–50. doi:10.1056/NEJM200012213432504. PMID 11117976.
- ↑ Friedrich M, Villena-Heinsen C, Schweizer J, Holländer M, Stieber M, Schmidt W (1998). "Primary tubal carcinoma: a retrospective analysis of four cases with a literature review". Eur J Gynaecol Oncol. 19 (2): 138–43. PMID 9611053.
- ↑ Hippisley-Cox J, Coupland C (2011). "Identifying women with suspected ovarian cancer in primary care: derivation and validation of algorithm". BMJ. 344: d8009. doi:10.1136/bmj.d8009. PMC 3251328. PMID 22217630.
- ↑ Hamilton W, Peters TJ, Bankhead C, Sharp D (2009). "Risk of ovarian cancer in women with symptoms in primary care: population based case-control study". BMJ. 339: b2998. doi:10.1136/bmj.b2998. PMC 2731836. PMID 19706933.
- ↑ SINHA AC (1959). "Hydrops tubae profluens as a presenting symptom in primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube: report of two cases and review of literature". Br Med J. 2 (5158): 996–1001. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.5158.996. PMC 1990718. PMID 14447118.
- ↑ Ou YC, Huang HY, Huang CC, Changchien CC, Tseng CW, Lin H (2011). "Primary fallopian tube carcinoma: clinicopathological analysis of 12 cases". Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol. 50 (2): 141–4. doi:10.1016/j.tjog.2011.01.031. PMID 21791297.