Ovarian Cancer: "Silent Killer" No More?
Possible Symptoms May Help Women And Doctors Detect The Disease Before It's Too Late
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Detecting Ovarian Cancer Early
Doctors hope a new set of guidelines will help women detect ovarian cancer early, while it's still 90 percent treatable. Katie Couric has more.
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Ovarian Cancer Breakthrough
"The Early Show" medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay tells Hannah Storm about research that identifies symptoms of ovarian cancer, leading to earlier detection and higher survival rates.
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First Look: Ovarian Cancer
Only On The Web: Katie Couric is on her way to a Sloan-Kettering clinic to talk to doctors and patients about catching ovarian cancer early, and Bill Owens previews tonight's news.
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Katie Couric speaks with Janet Weinrib, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago, and Dr. Carol Brown, an oncologist and surgeon at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. (CBS)
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Janet Weinrib was diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago. (CBS)
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More than 22,000 American women will be diagnosed this year with ovarian cancer. More than 15,000 are expected to die.
Most die within five years of their diagnosis — because by the time doctors find the disease, it has already spread. Until now, doctors have said there were no warning signs. But now they're compiled a list of symptoms that could point to ovarian cancer — in time to catch it, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reports.
Forty-nine-year-old Janet Weinrib was diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago.
"Something was sticking out of my stomach," she said. "I mean, there was a pronounced bulge in my lower abdomen."
But in retrospect, there were signs of her cancer almost two months earlier.
"The feeling of being, I would say, bloated, would be the best description," she said.
According to new guidelines issued today, that's just one of the four common symptoms of early ovarian cancer. In addition to bloating, other symptoms include feeling full quickly, abdominal pain and frequent or urgent urination.
"We don't want to frighten everyone into having everyone think 'Oh my gosh I have ovarian cancer, because I have bloating,' said Dr. Barbara Goff of the University of Washington. "Most people will not. But symptoms that are concerning are symptoms that are new for a patient, that persist for several weeks and that occur almost daily."
Ovarian cancer, if detected early — is 90 percent curable. But only 19 percent of cases are discovered in the earliest stage.
"Ovarian cancer can grow very rapidly, so time is of the essence," said Dr. Carol Brown, an oncologist and surgeon at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Couric asked Brown why if there's a PSA test for prostate cancer, mammograms for breast cancer and colonoscopies for colon cancer, why isn't there some kind of diagnostic test for ovarian cancer?
"The reason is partially because the ovaries are deep inside the body," she said. "So we're really relying on two modalities — one is imaging studies like X-rays and new types of X-rays, and then the other are blood tests to look for different substances that ovarian cancers may be shedding into the blood."
In the meantime, Brown says women must listen carefully to their bodies — and doctors must listen carefully to their patients.
"Part of the importance of this study is to let doctors know, too, that these symptoms exist," Brown said. "So it can really trigger in their minds, when they're seeing women like this, to think about this as a possibility."
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I have seen three doctors over this. So what is a person to do. I have to worry now that I have been lied to and have cancer. What happened to doctors that cared.
Is ovarian cancer still possible after a hysterectomy? If this is true, should I continue to have regular Pap smears?
Answer
A simple hysterectomy removes your cervix and uterus but leaves your ovaries and fallopian tubes intact. So you can still develop ovarian cancer.
Another type of hysterectomy called a total hysterectomy with salpingo-oophorectomy removes your cervix and uterus as well as both ovaries and fallopian tubes. Removing the ovaries dramatically reduces your risk %u2014 by more than 95 percent %u2014 of ovarian cancer. But you still have a small risk of primary peritoneal cancer, which acts just like ovarian cancer and is treated similarly. It's not clear why the risk of peritoneal cancer remains. But the cells on the inner lining of the abdomen (peritoneal) are very similar to the cells lining the surface of the ovaries.
There is no standardized screening test for ovarian or peritoneal cancer. A Pap smear is a screening test for cervical cancer. So, if you've had your cervix removed as part of the hysterectomy, you usually don't need an annual Pap smear. But you still need regular pelvic exams. Doctors also recommend continued Pap smears for women who have had cervical, vaginal or vulvar cancer before a hysterectomy.
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Ask again, at a minimum they should help you find out what is wrong, even if it's not cancer.
Specifically Coenzyme Q10 / Ubiquinol...
Milk Thistle in the form of Siliphos or
Isosilyibin B... and
Omega 3 in the form of Fish Oil or Flax Seed Oil.
Colleen
Suppliments are not regulated. They come under the heading of cosmetics as far as the FDA is concerned. There is no guarantee that even the more expensive suppliments have the right dosage or even any at all of the ingredient/s on the bottle's label.
Use only suppliments from nationally known companies who have a reputation to uphold, those mail order things by unknown companies could be feeding you anything, and doing so legally.
Flaxseed is high in fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and phytochemicals called lignans. Flaxseed can help reduce total blood cholesterol and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels %u2014 and, as a result, may help reduce the risk of heart disease. Flaxseed oil also contains omega-3 fatty acids, but it doesn't have the beneficial fiber that the seeds have.
Although the Institute of Medicine has not set a recommended daily intake for omega-3 fatty acids, it has established adequate intake amounts of between 1.1 and 1.6 grams per day for adults. One tablespoon of ground flaxseed provides 1.6 grams of omega-3 fatty acids.
More on this at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/flaxseed/AN01258
Also, the Mayo Clinic Book of Alternative Medicine was published in December and contains information about supplements, herbs, etc. collating what scientific evidence is available in support or debunking efficacy claims.
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by me4prezz
June 16, 2007 4:11 PM PDT
- My mom has stage IIIC ovarian cancer and had symptoms for almost a year before they diagnosed her. They removed 4 liters of fluid from her abdomen during surgery.
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See all 13 CommentsAnything they can find that would improve your chance of early detection are much needed. BUT, my mom tells everyone and so have we that women need to push and push to have a routine CA125 blood test done every year with their PAP smear and mammogram. By the time they chose to ran one on her, it was over 500. Normal is 35 and below. Mine was 34 just recently and I had a complete hysterectomy with ovaries and tubes removed as well and I am only 24. It can be elevated for other causes, but they are ones that you would want to know about anyway, such as endometriosis, uterine fibroids, cervical cancer, etc. That is the only thing I can add to this, especially if there is a history of brain or ovarian cancer in the family, to get the CA125 test. Brain cancer has been genetically linked to ovarian cancer in families. My mom's father died of brain cancer at 50 and my cousin had brain cancer as a child.
Just be your own advocate. If my mom hadn't pushed the issue, she would be dead listening to the doctors. She demanded time and again that something was wrong and it was.