OVARIAN CANCER IS ASYMPTOMATIC AT FIRST

Ovarian cancer is asympromatic at first

Signs

Ovarian cancer shows no symptoms or very mild symptoms at the beginning, so it’s very difficult to detect until it gets to its late stages. However, it often comes with signs that you can ‘read’ in your body if you pay attention and know what is normal for you:

Feeling constantly bloated
Discomfort in your lower abdomen
Feeling full quickly when eating
Loss of appetite
Needing to pee more often than normal
Vaginal bleeding
Weight gain or loss
Back pain

These signs may also be caused by something other than cancer, but it is important to discuss them with your doctor to check if they are related to ovarian cancer. If they are, they may help catching it in its early stages, when it’s easier to treat.

Diagnosis

To diagnose ovarian cancer, your doctor will do some tests, which include a physical exam, a pelvic exam, laboratory tests and ultrasounds. Treatment for ovarian cancer is usually done via chemotherapy and surgery.

Interesting fact

A research being conducted by the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Pennsylvania is trying to demonstrate whether in the future the sense of smell can help diagnose ovarian cancer.

The concept is that most human diseases have volatile organic compounds, or odorants, which can be used to identify if a person is affected by a specific disease.

The research is currently focusing on ovarian cancer to identify if the cancerous tissues have a characteristic odorous signature, which can improve future chances for this type of cancer to be diagnosed in its earlier stages.

Did you know?

Ovarian cancer is most common in women after menopause (usually over the age of 50). However, sometimes if can affect younger women.