"The Silent Killer" ( Ovarian Cancer )

Ovarian cancer is often called the "silent killer" because of its lack of symptoms in the early stages, but for some women, there may be some warning signs. Cancer begins in cells, the building blocks that make up tissues. Tissues make up the organs of the body

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

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.


Who Gets Ovarian Cancer?

All women are at risk for ovarian cancer, but older women are more likely to get the disease than younger women. About 90 percent of women who get ovarian cancer are older than 40 years of age, with the greatest number being aged 55 years or older. In 2004,* 20,095 women in the United States were told that they have ovarian cancer, making it the second most common gynecologic cancer, after uterine.† Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other gynecologic cancer in the U.S., but it accounts for only about 3 percent of all cancers in women

Ovarian cancer occurs when a cancerous tumor is in a woman’s ovary. In most cases, there are no known causes. There are often no symptoms, but ovarian cancer warning signs include ongoing pain or cramps in the belly or back, abnormal vaginal bleeding, and nausea and bloating. Depending on the cancer stage, ovarian cancer treatment includes surgery and chemotherapy.