Ovarian Cancer Treatment
By Jeanette Pollock

Ovarian cancer, a condition characterized by an overgrowth of
malignant cells in one or both of the ovaries, is one of the
deadliest and under-recognized cancers affecting women. Every
year, there are more than 25,000 women that suffer from this
deadly disease. Half of them are most likely to die within a
period of five years.

Early Detection: Improves Ovarian Cancer Treatment

The sad thing about ovarian cancer is that during the early
stage, there are usually no signs and symptoms that tell you
about this disorder. Symptoms start to show up when the cancer
is already widespread, making ovarian cancer treatment too
difficult.

However, there are women who are lucky enough to detect the
symptoms early on; hence, diagnosis is hastened up and ovarian
cancer treatment is given immediately. Tests such as pelvic and
rectal screening, ultrasound, x-ray and laparoscopy may help a
doctor detect tumors in the ovaries.

At present, almost 75 percent of women diagnosed with ovarian
cancer are not treated immediately due to late detection of the
cancer. Experts say that when detection of the cancer is made
early and when ovarian cancer treatment is given immediately,
women diagnosed with the disease have 90% survival rate since
the cancer can be easily treated in its early stage.

Diagnosis and Ovarian Cancer Treatment

When symptoms finally show up and the doctor suspects that a
patient may have ovarian cancer, laparoscopy is conducted to
confirm diagnosis. It is a direct visual examination of the
abdominal cavity, the ovaries, the exterior of the fallopian
tubes and the uterus using an instrument that is inserted just
underneath the navel.

Upon confirmation of ovarian cancer, the doctor explores the
extent of the cancer and submits the patient for surgery. The
surgeon removes the growth or much of the malignant tissue. In
most cases, the whole ovary or both of the ovaries and the
fallopian tubes are removed as they the malignant cancer cells
have already affected these areas. This kind of surgery is
called salpingooophorectomy. If the malignant cells affect the
uterus, hysterectomy is conducted (surgical removal of the
uterus).

Surgery is usually ensued by radiotherapy, which is the use of
high energy radiation to destroy malignant cancer cells in the
body and shrink remaining tumors, which may later on become
malignant. This procedure may be done using an external machine
or a radioactive material put inside the body near the malignant
cells.

The patient also undergoes chemotherapy, whereby the patient is
given anti-cancer drugs to help hasten up ovarian cancer
treatment. Drugs may be administered orally (through the mouth),
intravenously (through the veins) or through the muscles (by
means of injection of a needle.

Most anticancer drugs given to the patient have chemical
compounds that are toxic to the malignant cells; thus, growth of
the cancer cells is reduced or stopped. These anticancer drugs
are called cytotoxic drugs. Other anticancer drugs used are
synthetic forms of sex hormones such as androgen drugs and
progesterone drugs.

In most instances, different kinds of anticancer drugs are
prescribed in combination in order to speed up ovarian cancer
treatment. However, not all ovarian cancer patients are given
with the same anticancer drugs. The drugs given to a patient
depends on the extent or stage of development of the ovarian
cancer and her general health condition.

About the Author: Jeanette Pollock is a freelance author and
website owner of http://www.ovariancancerdomain.com. Visit
Jeanette's site to learn more about ovarian cancer treatment.

Source: http://www.isnare.com

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To learn about the symptoms of ovarian cancer read the article "Ovarian Cancer Symptoms" http://www.livingfithealthyandhappy.com/2009/12/ovarian-cancer-symptoms.html