Ovarian cancer

ARTICLE SECTIONS

Introduction Signs and symptoms Causes Risk factors When to seek medical advice

Screening and diagnosis Treatment Prevention Self-care Coping skills

Introduction

Women have two ovaries, one on each side of the uterus. The ovaries — each about the size of an almond — produce eggs (ova) as well as the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone. Ovarian cancer is a disease in which normal ovarian cells begin to grow in an uncontrolled, abnormal manner and produce tumors in one or both ovaries.

According to the American Cancer Society, ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women. It's estimated that about 20,000 women in the United States will develop ovarian cancer this year. About 15,000 deaths from ovarian cancer will occur in American women during that same time frame.

Your chances of surviving ovarian cancer are better if the cancer is found early. But because the disease is difficult to detect in its early stage, only about 20 percent of ovarian cancers are found before tumor growth has spread into adjacent tissues and organs beyond the ovaries. Most of the time, the disease has already advanced before it's diagnosed.

Until recently, doctors thought that early-stage ovarian cancer rarely produced any symptoms. But new evidence has shown that most women may have signs and symptoms even in the early stages of the disease. Being aware of them may lead to earlier detection.

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Signs and symptoms