Ovarian cancer is difficult to detect early on. Symptoms can mimic other conditions, and chances are you won’t have any. In addition, doctors and gynecologists don’t have reliable screening tests to find early signs of the disease. These are the main reasons women are diagnosed with stage I or II ovarian cancer before it only spreads in around 20% of cases.
But there are things you can do to manage your health. Learn what symptoms to look out for so that your doctor or gynecologist can examine them. And find out what factors put women at high risk for the disease so you can receive preventative treatments when needed. Two doctors who treat gynecological cancers want you to know about a diagnosis of ovarian cancer as early as possible.
Speak when you have symptoms
Sometimes ovarian cancer doesn’t cause symptoms early on, especially in the first stage of the disease. Then the cancer is confined to one or both ovaries, which store eggs and produce the female hormones estrogen and progesterone.
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“There’s plenty of room in the abdomen for the ovary to grow,” said Leslie Boyd, MD, director of the NYU Langone’s Department of Gynecologic Oncology. “Usually stage I ovarian cancer is a pretty silent disease.”
Katherine Kurnit, MD, a gynecological oncologist at the University of Chicago, agrees. Generally, she says, women get symptoms when the cancer spreads, presses on other structures, or invades other parts of the body.
However, it is possible to get symptoms in the early stages of the disease. Some of them are:
- Bloating
- Pain in the abdomen or pelvis
- Feeling full quickly while eating
- An urgent or frequent need to pee
Speak to your family doctor or gynecologist if you have symptoms like these, especially if they’re new to you and don’t go away, Kurnit says. Because ovarian cancer can cause nonspecific problems like gastrointestinal or bowel problems, you should be aware that it is often diagnosed as gastrointestinal or bowel problems, say Kurnit and Boyd.
If you’re being treated for any of these conditions and your symptoms last 2 weeks or more, see another doctor or your gynecologist. A pelvic ultrasound is a quick test that can give your gynecologist a lot of information about what’s going on with you, says Boyd.
Find out what could put you at high risk
A number of things increase the chances of developing ovarian cancer, such as getting older. The disease is rare if you are under 40 years of age. It is much more common if you are 63 years of age or older. Most often it starts after menopause.
Boyd and Kurnit say two important things put you at high risk of developing the disease: your close family’s medical history and certain genetic changes, or “mutations”.
If you have a first degree relative like a sister or mother who has ovarian cancer, your chances of developing the disease increase, Kurnit says. Having a close relative with breast cancer can also be a risk factor, she says.
Inherited mutations in genes known as BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 are also linked to a higher risk of ovarian cancer and other cancers. The way to find out if you have either mutation is to get your genes tested. You can ask your doctor or gynecologist if genetic testing is right for you. If so, they may be able to refer you to a genetic counselor.
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“The preferred way to identify someone at high risk, or with one of those genetic mutations that are at higher risk for familial cancers, is to consult with a genetic counselor,” says Boyd. “You can go over the risks and benefits of getting the genetic tests and then move on to the tests when it makes sense for that patient.”
If you choose to have genetic testing, a counselor can also help explain your results. “It is sometimes very difficult to understand what a gene mutation means for a person who is not in the medical field or for someone who is just not that familiar with it,” says Kurnit.
If you are diagnosed with a mutation in any of your BRCA genes, the counselor can guide you through the implications for your risk of ovarian and other cancers. They can also tell you the best way to share the information with your siblings, “both men and women, who would also be potentially at higher risk for cancer syndromes,” says Kurnit.
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Gene tests directly at the consumer are also available. However, Boyd says trying to interpret the results on your own without the help of a counselor could be daunting.
If you learn that you are at high risk for ovarian cancer, your doctor or gynecologist will monitor your health closely and explain which preventive treatments might be right for you, as well as the risks and benefits of each treatment.
What to do if you are exposed to an average risk
Doctors would love to have an accurate screening test to detect ovarian cancer early before it causes symptoms, but it doesn’t exist. Tests like the Pap test for cervical cancer are not effective at finding signs of early ovarian cancer. Currently, the U.S. Working Group on Preventive Services recommends that doctors not routinely examine women at moderate risk who have no symptoms.
Even so, Boyd says, “It’s always a good idea to maintain a relationship with your gynecologist throughout your life. And after menopause there is certainly the highest risk of developing the most common gynecological cancers. ”
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Kurnit agrees. “Women often think that after menopause they no longer need a gynecologist.” She recommends that you have all recommended gynecological treatments and routine exams done by your GP.
It may make some sense to you to know that your overall risk of ovarian cancer is “pretty low,” says Boyd. The chance that you will get it in your life is 1 in 78, or 1.3%.
When you get ovarian cancer, treatments help people live better and longer than before, she says.
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