Should You Have Routine Cancer Screening?

Ovarian cancer, known as the silent killer, has a 90 percent cure rate if found early enough. Unfortunately, most ovarian cancer symptoms don't necessarily point to a diagnosis; approximately 75 percent of women have metastasis of ovarian cancer cells into the abdomen by the time they are diagnosed. This is why ovarian cancer screening is vital to an early diagnosis.

Is routine ovarian cancer screening medically advised?

Fifty out of every 100,000 women are living with ovarian cancer, and every year 14 out of 100,000 will be diagnosed with this disease. At present, a pelvic exam, external and internal ultrasonic imaging, specific blood tests and genetic testing are used to screen for ovarian cancer. However, most doctors don't advise for the majority of the female population to have ovarian cancer screening, because there is no evidence that these tests will lower the incidence of ovarian cancer. These tests are recommended when you have a family history of ovarian cancer, and when your doctor suspects that you could have it.

Symptoms of ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer symptoms can be fairly vague. The symptoms may include intestinal gas, a feeling of being bloated, and indigestion. It can be very uncomfortable because these symptoms aren't relieved when you take an antacid. Other symptoms of ovarian cancer may include a feeling of pressure in the pelvic area, and unexplained abdominal swelling. Women may also experience pelvic pain during sexual relations, and vaginal bleeding.

Most of the time, when women have the symptoms mentioned above, they don't even go to the doctor, unless the symptoms are significant enough, and last long enough to cause them to seek a medical opinion. The problem with this is that if it is ovarian cancer, it could possibly be too late to have a full recovery. Oftentimes, women who failed to get an early diagnosis have a life expectancy of 5 years or less.

How is ovarian cancer detected?

It is very important for women to get yearly physicals done. During an annual exam, your doctor will do an internal exam and palpate your ovaries to check them. This means that while your doctor has her fingers inside pushing up on the vaginal wall, your doctor is pushing down with rotating motion to feel the outline of your ovaries. During the exam, your doctor may also do a rectal exam to palpate the organs nearby. If you have an ovarian cyst or a fibroid tumor, your doctor should be able to feel it during the pelvic exam.

There is no one test that screens for ovarian cancer. The CA125 blood test is used to pick up evidence of ovarian tumors. This blood test identifies proteins that are present when you have ovarian growths. However, the CA125 doesn't automatically mean that you have an ovarian tumor, because you will have elevated proteins with fibroid tumors and endometriosis. This test is not universally used for ovarian cancer testing in premenopausal women, because even a pregnancy could render a positive test result. The CA125 is usually used in people who have already had ovarian cancer and survived it. The test is used to track women to make sure that the cancer doesn't return.

When your doctor feels something out of the ordinary in your pelvic region, you will most likely be sent for ovarian cancer screening. Ovarian cancer screening testing includes having some x-rays, an ultrasound, and some blood work done. If your doctor needs more information to rule out or confirm a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, he or she may also do a laparoscopic examination. Your doctor may send you to a surgeon to have a laparoscopy done, so that your ovaries, fallopian tubes and related organs can be visualized. If there are fibroids, endometriosis, or other gynecological problems, the examining doctor will be able to see it with during the laparoscopic examination. When a laparoscopy is done, the surgeon can take samples from the ovaries for a biopsy if cancer is suspected.

If ovarian cancer is suspected, an oncology surgeon may open up the abdomen with an exploratory laparotomy to take a look at your pelvic organs; the doctor may also take samples of tissue and abdominal fluids for biopsy examinations. If it goes this far to confirm or rule out a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, your doctor may talk to you in advance of the surgery date that if cancer is found, that ovarian cancer surgery may commence that that time.

Sources:

Medicine Net

Mayo Clinic

American College of Preventive Medicine