OVARIAN CANCER DAY

Yay! It is World Ovarian cancer day and another opportunity to increase the awareness of this disease in order to improve our general understanding, and help our women of all ages easily recognize the disease pattern, its manifestation and their help seeking behavior with regards to the disease. This is all geared towards improving survival rate and life expectancy of our women.

Earlier this week in our previous post, we examined what ovarian cancer means, its predisposing factors and common symptoms to look out for which could point towards the underlying disease process in the body. today, we will take a look at the types and the diagnosis of Ovarian cancer.

Types of Ovarian Cancer

There are quite a number of types of ovarian cancer. The common types based on where they take root from include:

  • Germ cell tumors: The germ cells are known to normally develop into eggs for reproduction, but mutation here results into germ cell tumors. These tumors are rare and mostly seen in young ladies.
  • Stromal cell tumors: Stromal cells are responsible for producing hormones in the ovaries. Ovarian cancer is also known to take root from here, they are often diagnosed earlier and account for about 7% of the disease.
  • Epithelial cell tumors: The ovaries have a thin overlying layer of tissues made up of epithelial cells referred to as epithelial layer. Over 90% of ovarian cancer are of this type and are also known to be most invasive.

Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer

Please note that the diagnosis of ovarian cancer can be done by only a well-trained medical doctor or medical specialist. The knowledge of the intricacies of diagnosis is only meant to keep you enlightened and well informed.

Ovarian cancer is quite easy to treat when it is diagnosed during the early stages. However, there are no available routine screening tests to aid this cause. This therefore emphasizes the need to seek prompt medical attention when abnormal and worrisome symptoms manifest.

On medical consultations, if your doctor has a high index of suspicion of ovarian cancer. The following tests may be carried out to reach a diagnosis:

  • A pelvic examination is carried out by your doctor putting on gloves via insertion of fingers into the vagina, and palpation of the abdomen to examine pelvic organs for any anomaly.
  • Abdominal and pelvic imaging scans such as transvaginal ultrasounds, CT (Computerized Tomography) scan or MRI scan as preferred by the doctor due to case presentations help to detect abnormal growth in the reproductive organs and in this case the ovaries.
  • Blood tests are also carried out to have an outlook of the general state of health of the patient and specifically for biomarkers such as CA-125 which higher levels could point towards the disease process.
  • Biopsy is a surgical procedure which involves removal of minute tissue samples from the ovary, after which analysis are carried out. This is the confirmatory diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

When a diagnosis of ovarian cancer is confirmed, the cancer is staged to know how far gone the progression of disease has spread. Ovarian cancer could be found to be Localized affecting only the ovaries or fallopian tubes, it could be Regional affecting close reproductive organs especially the womb and the last scenario is Distant affecting other organs in the human body such as the liver, kidney, etc. The knowledge of the staging guides the medical expert on the plan of management of the patient and the disease.

Please, let us encourage our women to be observant about their body and if any anomaly is noticed, please reach out as early diagnosis saves the lives of our beautiful women. Thank you.

For enquiries and consultations, you can reach us on our contact us page.

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