What is ovarian cancer?
What are the symptoms of ovarian cancer?
How can doctors tell if I have ovarian cancer?
It can be hard to catch ovarian cancer early because there aren't many clear symptoms. And your doctor may not find anything abnormal during your regular checkup. Once in a while, your doctor might find that one of your ovaries feels larger than it should.
If your doctor suspects you might have ovarian cancer, you'll usually have an:
If the ultrasound looks like you have cancer, your doctor may do:
How do doctors treat ovarian cancer?
Doctors treat ovarian cancer with surgery, usually removing the:
Doctors then usually give you chemotherapy to destroy any remaining cancer.
Depending on where the cancer has spread, doctors may use chemotherapy instead of or before surgery.
Unless it's caught early, ovarian cancer often comes back after treatment. Doctors use chemotherapy to treat ovarian cancer that comes back.
How can I prevent ovarian cancer?
Some women have genes that increase the risk of ovarian cancer. These genes are called BRCA1 and BRCA2. They also increase the risk of breast cancer. If you have family members who've had breast or ovarian cancer, you should talk to your doctor about gene testing. If you have one of these genes, having your ovaries removed may help prevent cancer.
