Most people who suffer with ovarian cancer complain of the same symptoms. They experience the same pains and weaknesses as other sufferers. However the symptoms that are experienced are not exclusive to cancer and can point to other less serious illnesses. A lot of the time the symptoms can point to bladder or digestive problems. This means that often the symptoms are diagnosed wrongly and it is only when problems persist or worsen that they are then re-examined and ovarian cancer is diagnosed.

There are a set of symptoms that almost everyone that is diagnosed with ovarian cancer will experience.

Women will find that they will notice a sudden need to go to the toilet. Bladder problems are common and the need to urinate more regularly than normal is not unusual.

You will also find that you experience pelvic problems. Pains and discomfort is quite common.

Swelling, bloating and fullness in the abdomen will also be experienced.

Although these symptoms are almost a certainty when it comes to ovarian cancer there are also a set of symptoms that can be experienced. Although these symptoms are not always experienced and you may find that you experience only 1 of the ailments they are common with ovarian cancer.

These symptoms include:

A drastic change in weight, either weight gain or weight loss with no change in lifestyle.

You may also find that you experience a loss of appetite

Unexplained drastic changes in bowel movements (constipation or diarrhea)

Changes in bladder habits

Pain and discomfort during sexual intercourse.

Lower back pain

Lack of energy

As with any illness you do not have to experience more than 1 of these symptoms - If you are experiencing any of the above then you should see a doctor immediately.

There are any number of symptoms that can indicate that you may have ovarian cancer – and so of course it is important to get any of these checked out by a doctor as soon as possible. However because the symptoms are not exclusive to ovarian cancer it is often undetected for some months. It is only when symptoms worsen or remain constant that ovarian cancer is diagnosed. The types of symptoms that you experience are often in line with digestive or bladder problems

Often you will experience urinary problems with a need to go to the toilet more regularly and often immediately. Patients will also often have a swollen or bloated abdomen. Often they experience also pains and discomfort in the pelvic area.

The above symptoms are the most common and you will find that most people with ovarian cancer experience at least 1 if not all of the above symptoms.

There are other symptoms that may be experienced can be weight change – Either weight loss or weight gain, with no change in your lifestyle. Change in your usual bladder habits and possibly, diarrhea, constipation, or just general changes in their bowel movements with no change in lifestyle. During sexual intercourse they may also experience some main or discomfort. Day to day you may also experience lower back pain. Feeling lethargic and breathless.

Because the symptoms are vague and can point to any number of illnesses it is hard to pin point this to ovarian cancer. For this reason if you are experiencing even just 1 of these symptoms you should get this looked into immediately. Speedy diagnosis of your symptoms & illness is fundamental in increasing your chances in surviving ovarian cancer. Your chances of survival are higher the earlier than you are diagnosed.

Being diagnosed with cancer can be a scary time. Of course doctors can tell us the facts, and friends can offer their support but it is sometimes difficult as they do not know what you are going through. There are many different ways to get support from people that are in the same situation or have been in the same situation as your self. It’s a good way to talk about how you are feeling and what you are going through.

In the UK there is a service called Fone Friend. This allows you to call them and get through to some one local to you that is experiencing the same as you. They also have a very basic medical knowledge and can try and offer you advice on any of the areas they may know about.

Of course talking on the phone is for not everyone. Some people prefer to be able to talk face to face to some one else. This can be done at support groups. These are usually a small group of people that meet on a set day to talk about their illness. They discuss what they have been told in the last week, how they are feeling and what their symptoms are. Many find this very useful.

The internet can also offer a wealth of information and advice. As well as their being many websites on what to expect, other peoples experiences etc many also have forums and chat rooms. Again this means that you are able to talk to people about your feelings, what you are going through and people can share their experiences. Many people find this easier as the internet is reasonably anonymous and they find this helps them in being able to open up to how they are feeling.

Ovarian cancer and your chances of survival are hard to calculate – Although statistics do exist there are many factors that can affect your chances that it is hard to be exact. Although generally the main factor for survival is how early your cancer has been diagnosed, this can vary depending on the type of tumor and whether it is located anywhere else in your body

As with any type of cancer the chances of survival are monitored by the 5 year rule – meaning that the patient is still alive 5 years after being diagnosed with cancer – Generally after this time the cancer will not return,

In the very early stages for ovarian cancer generally around 90% of women diagnosed as this stage survive. This figure can drop depending the age of the patient, if they already suffer from ill health or the type of tumor that they have.

At stage 2 of the cancer, where it has start to spread beyond the ovaries around 7 out of 10 women will survive at least 5 years.

At the more advanced stages of ovarian cancer it is not surprising that the statistics for survival are less. Those first diagnosed with ovarian cancer at stage 3 of the cancer have between a 15% and a 35% chance of survival for at least 5 years. The reason that there is such a wide range in this statistic is because it depends on where the cancer has spread to and how face it has spread.

At the final advance stage of ovarian cancer (Stage 4) the chances are between just 5% and 14%. Once again this depends how much the cancer has progressed through the body. Other than that there are 2 other factors that can affect survival rates. This is the grade of the cancer –How abnormal your cancer cells look and whether the tumor(s) you have can be removed

Ovarian cancer is the 4th most comment type of cancer diagnosed in women in the UK. Around 6,600 women each year are diagnosed with the disease. Only breast, lung and bowel cancer are more common. Out of every 100 women diagnosed with cancer around 5 of those are told they have ovarian cancer.

There is still exact rhyme or reason as to why one person gets ovarian cancer whilst another may not; however there are some ways that you are able to decrease the risk.

Ovarian cancer can be down to family history – If other members of your family have contracted this disease then this makes it more likely you will, the risk of ovarian cancer also increases with age. Largely ovarian cancer is due to gene changes during a woman’s life. You may also just be unlucky and have the faulty genes… BRCA1 and BRCA2 increase the risk of both ovarian and breast cancer.

Your periods can also indicate the likely hood of you getting ovarian cancer – For explain if you have a late menopause or you started your periods at a young age then you have a slight increase on the risk of getting ovarian cancer. This is purely down to the fact that your ovaries will have produced eggs for longer.

Hormone replacement treatment has shown some signs of affecting your chances of contracting ovarian cancer. Being overweight increases your risk by about 33%.

There are also ways that you are able to improve your chances of not getting this disease. For example having children & breast feeding can decrease the chances of you getting the disease – Being sterilised or having a hysterectomy also shows signs of decreasing the risk.

Some types of contraception can also help your chances and it may be worth discussing this with your doctor.

Your chances of survival from ovarian cancer depend on many factors – How early you have been diagnosed, if the cancer has spread & if it has spread where it has spread too. Usually when it comes to cancer doctors use the term “5 year survival”, this means that after your cancer has been diagnosed you have survived 5 years. Of course this does not mean you will only survive 5 years, but after this time there is a good chance of the cancer not returning.

With Ovarian cancer there are 4 stages of how far the cancer has progressed. In general though in the UK around 34% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer will survive at least 5 year and around 30% will survive at least 10 years.

Stage 1 –This first stage of cancer, meaning that the cancer is limited to the ovaries. Statistics on this stage of cancer are hard to find, however because it has been caught in the early stages around 90% of women diagnosed survive at least 5 years.

Stage 2 - This is the advanced stage of stage 1 cancer. Around 7 out of 10 women diagnosed with cancer at this stage will survive at least 5 years.

Stage 3 – Around 15-35 out of every 100 women will survive this stage of cancer. This stage is harder to put into statistics as it means that the cancer has spread. The chances of survival vary largely depending on where the cancer has spread too.

Stage 4 is the most advanced stage of cancer & means that the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Around 5%-14% of women diagnosed at this stage will survive.

Of course as with any statistics this varies from individual to individual – Depending on the size of your tumors, where they have spread too and your overall health

Screening is a system used to check those that are susceptible to the disease for easily signs of ovarian cancer. However at the moment there is not fully accurate test for ovarian cancer.

However there are 2 main trials going on in order to try and find an effective way of screening for this. These 2 trails are transvaginal ultrasound and blood test CA125.

The transvaginal ultrasound involves putting an ultrasound probe into the woman’s vagina. This allows doctors to see a fuller picture of the ovaries. Even with this test it is difficult to tell if there is cancer on the ovaries or if it is just a cyst.

The CA125 is known as a tumor marker for this type of cancer. This means that it gives off a chemical given off by cancer cells circulates in the blood. This test can be inaccurate those as not all with ovarian cancer will have raised CA125.

For this reason the test on its own is not accurate as it would not find all cases of ovarian cancer. It could also indicate that some one has ovarian cancer when they do not – causing unnecessary distress to the women being tested.

For this reason they are researching other ways of screening and testing for ovarian cancer. They are looking into an accurate test to enable more women to be diagnosed early and have their chances of survival increase!

They hope that eventually they will be able to combine a tumor marker test with a blood test to be able to pick up early signs of cancer & rule out people that do not have it.

At the moment there are 2 times when you will start to be screened – Firstly if you are at higher risk and you are over 35 or from 5 years before the age your youngest relative was told they had ovarian cancer. The cancer screening will then continue yearly for the rest of your life.

Of course as with any illness like cancer is there are no set rules as to why one person may get it and why one person may not. There are however some steps that you can take to reduce your risk of contracting this disease. This includes living a healthy active lifestyle – Non smokes for example are at a much lower risk of developing any type of cancer. Vitamin D is also very good for you and your fight against cancer. There are ways you can change your diet to improve your chances.

Many tests and trials show that a low fat diet can help reduce the risks of you developing ovarian cancer. Trials have shown that participants that upped their intake of fruit and vegetables to at least 5 portions a day decreased their chances of developing ovarian cancer. The types of fruit and vegetables also are important. Of course any fruit or vegetable is good for you but to introduce the most colorful diet you can is even better – Bright vegetables such as carrots and yellow gourd and colorful fruit such as blueberries, oranges and tomato’s can decrease your risk of developing ovarian cancer by up to 30%

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate is also shown to improve your chances of not developing this disease. I am sure you will not have heard of this; however it is present in green tea.

This powerful antioxidant known as EGCG has shown to stop the growth of ovarian cancer. It also helps sensitize them to certain anti cancer drugs.

Of course not everyone likes tea but there are other ways to introduce EGCG into your diet. For example the T bar (made by Tze Tze) has 130mg of EGCG in a bar. The cereal bar also has other nutrients and vitamins present.

For those amongst us with a sweet tooth, a company called Neuchatel produces Green Tea Chocolates which contacts EGCG.

Ovarian cancer is cancer than begins in your ovaries. However there are many strains of this cancer and different types of tumors that come with it. Of course it can spread to other parts of the body which would then need to be treated separately. However the types of tumors in the ovaries can be:

Epithelial tumors – The Epithelial is the tissue that covers the outside of your ovary. Around 90% of all ovarian cancers are this type. Mainly this occurs in women over 60 years of age.

Germ Cell Tumor – This is the type of tumor that develops in the egg producing tissue. This accounts for around 5% of all ovarian cancer are this. This is usually the type that younger women contract.

There are 2 main types of this tumor and both are very rare. The Choriocarcinoma is the type that starts in your placenta and occurs during pregnancy. It has very rapid growth and is dealt with by chemotherapy. Endodremal sinus tumor is another type of
Germ Cell tumor & again is dealt with by chemotherapy.

Stromal tumors – These are present in the progesterone and estrogen producing tissues (These hold the ovary together!)

Borderline Ovarian Cancers - These are tumors that spread slow and have a very high cure rate. Around 10 to 15% of all epithelial tumors are border line. These types of tumors are usually cured by surgery to remove the tumors.

The first step in treatment of ovarian cancer usually always is surgical removal. Called debulking or optimal cytoreduction it involves the removal of as much of the cancerous tissues as possible. The successful removal of as much of the tissue as possible can drastically improve the patient’s chances of survival for at least 5 years. Many go onto to have long, high quality lives once the tumors are removes. This can sometimes be followed up my chemotherapy.

Ovarian cancer has many symptoms which point to ovarian cancer – however these are not uncommon with other illnesses and diseases so it is often difficult to pin point the symptoms specifically to ovarian cancer. The symptoms can be in line with digestive problems and bladder disorders. Due to this it often means that women can be diagnosed with a different illness firstly. It is often only once these symptoms persist or worsen that they are tested and ovarian cancer is diagnosed. The reason for this is that with ovarian cancer the symptoms are constantly – Unlike other digestive problems where symptoms can come and go.

There are many symptoms for ovarian cancer; some women will have more than others. The mostly likely symptoms are:

Abdominal problems – fullness, Swelling, Bloating or pressure,

Urinary problems – Needing to go to the toilet urgently,

Pelvic problems – Discomfort or pain.

There are many other symptoms that women may experience. These can sometimes be less severe than the other symptoms & not every woman can experience these. These other symptoms tend to come and go and are not always constant. Where as the symptoms listed above tend to be constant once they start to be experienced and tend to worsen when time goes on. The symptoms that can come and go are:

Loss of appetite

Weight gain or weight loss with no change in lifestyle

Changes in bladder habits

Unexplained changes in bowel movements (Diarrhoea or constipation)

Pain many be experienced during sexual intercourse

Lack of energy

Pain your lower back

As a general rule women experiencing these symptoms are usually diagnosed within 3 months. Of course with these symptoms it can be difficult to diagnose ovarian cancer and this can sometimes take around 6 months. The earlier you go to the doctor to get any symptoms like this checked out the better.