Common Symptoms May Be Early Tip to Ovarian Cancer
April 20, 2009 by Jo
Filed under Health, Preventative Medicine
A cluster of three common symptoms in women – a swollen abdomen, a bloated feeling and urgent urination – should raise suspicions of ovarian cancer if they are persistent, severe and began recently, a study says.
The three symptoms are among many that have been associated with ovarian cancer before. But because they also affect most healthy women at some point in their lives, they are often not seen as a tip-off to cancer.
The lack of clearly identifiable symptoms has contributed to the relatively poor prognosis for women with ovarian cancer. While cure rates are high when the disease is detected early, about 75 percent of women are diagnosed when the cancer is in advanced stages.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women after cancers of the lung, breast, colon, and pancreas. About 23,000 women are diagnosed with the disease each year, and 14,000 die from it – a relatively high fatality rate caused by the failure to catch many cases early.
The new study may help narrow the list of symptoms that might signal a need for further tests.
All three symptoms were found in 43 percent of women later diagnosed with ovarian cancer, but in just 8 percent of women without the disease.
Women with ovarian cancer also were more likely than others to report that symptoms began within the preceding several weeks rather than several months or years earlier. Their symptoms also were more likely to be severe and to occur as often as every day or most days.
The cluster of symptoms occurred in women with early-stage disease and in those with more advanced cases. They also occurred in women who had noncancerous ovarian tumors.
When you have any or all of these symptoms more than 24 hours; contact your physician or medical specialist for an appointment and testing. Your future health condition may depend on quick action.
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