The Elusive Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer
One of the challenges in recognizing symptoms of ovarian cancer is that they are elusive and often mistaken for other problems. Unfortunately, as a result, 77 percent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Even a pelvic exam is unlikely to detect early stage ovarian cancer, when it is most treatable and before it has spread beyond the ovaries.
Research to find an early detection test is being carried out extensively. At present, however, your proactive attitude in pursuing the cause(s) of the symptoms listed below is the best way to determine if ovarian cancer is present.
The most common symptoms include
- Do you feel bloated all the time even though you are not hungry?
- Do you have an empty stomach but can only eat a small amount of food at a time?
- Do you experience abdominal or pelvic pain?
- Have you noticed the need to urinate more and more frequently? Do you need to urinate every hour or less but the amount of urine is small, although the sense of urgency is as if your bladder were overflowing?
Other symptoms can include
- Do you experience frequent heartburn, an upset stomach or frequent flatulence that doesn’t go away even with medication?
- Do you experience back pain?
- Do you experience pain during sex?
- Are you constipated or have loose stools, which is a change from your normal bowel habit?
- Has the pattern of your menstrual cycle changed?
- Have you lost or gained weight even though your eating habits have not changed?
- Are you experiencing ongoing fatigue while getting 7-8 hours of sleep regularly?
As you read these symptoms, it’s clear that any one of them could be attributed to a variety of causes. That is why it is so important to discuss them with your doctor. Doing so could save your life!
For more information about ovarian and other gynecological cancers, visit our Gynecologic Oncology Program.
