Ovarian Cancer: The Silent Killer
"Ovarian cancer generally remains silent. Before you would know, it would spread in your back and stomach."
"I have Ovarian cancer and it is very hard to live with. It was the year 2013 when I was diagnosed with it around Christmas. Very recently found out that it has returned or regrown for the third time. Now, I am in grade four. This time was a total shock as I had no symptoms, so it has been very hard to digest.", Hilary shares on UK Bases cancer-research community blog.
she is not alone, there were nearly 300,000 new cases in 2018.
Thousands of New Cases
According to world cancer research Fund, Ovarian Cancer is the eighth most commonly occurring cancer in women and the 18th most commonly occurring cancer overall. There were nearly 300,000 new cases in 2018.
This is the fifth most fatal cancer.
Indian Medical Association (IMA), stated that ovarian cancer has no symptoms at the early stages, so the disease is generally advanced when it is diagnosed.
No Symptoms
Over many cycles of ovulation, the ovarian surface epithelium undergoes repeated disruption and repair. The epithelial cells are stimulated to proliferate, which increases the probability of spontaneous mutations.
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Alternatively, following ovulation, these cells may become trapped within the connective tissue surrounding the ovary, which can lead to the formation of inclusion cysts.
If this happens, the epithelial cells are subjected to a unique pro-inflammatory microenvironment, which may increase the rate of DNA damage, thus affecting cancer risk. Other ovarian cancer types are- Ovarian low malignant potential tumour, Germ Cell tumour and sex cord-stromal tumour.
Occurs Spontaneously
Dr KK Agrawal, Chairman IMA says, "Ovarian cancer generally remains silent. Before you would know, it would spread in your back and stomach. It shows almost no symptoms in the beginning and towards the end."
Most ovarian cancers occur spontaneously, although 5–10 percent of cases develop due to a genetic predisposition. The latter, involving dysfunctional BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, produces high-grade carcinomas, with a poorer prognosis.