Growth of cancer cells in the ovaries is referred to as ovarian cancer.

Symptoms of ovarian cancer

• Constipation, diarrhea, excessive gas, indigestion and other gastrointestinal symptoms
• Lack of appetite
• Nausea and vomiting
• Pain in the legs, abdomen, pelvis and/or the back
• Increased weariness or fatigue
• Pelvic heaviness or abdominal boating or swelling

Other rare symptoms include:

• Increased urge or frequency in urination
• Excessive hair growth
• Changes in weight such as unexpected loss of weight or weight gain
• Shortness of breath and other respiratory issues
• Excessive bleeding from the vagina which may include bleeding even after menopause or abnormal bleeding during menstrual periods

Causes of ovarian cancer

• The exact causes of ovarian cancer are unknown, but on rare occasions, BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene defects increase the risk to developing ovarian cancer
• A family history of ovarian cancer and a personal or family history of other cancers such as breast, colon, rectum or uterus cancer increases the risk
• Women who have never been pregnant increases the risk whereas early and increased number of pregnancies decrease the risk
• Estrogen only hormone replacement surgery, an increased age, obesity and the use of some types of fertility medications also increase the risk of ovarian cancer in women

Treatment of ovarian cancer

• Surgery to remove the tumors or all of the ovaries or removal of nearby affected tissues
• Chemotherapy which involves the intravenous administration of cancer killing drugs
• On rare occasions, radiation therapy may be used to treat ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer survival rate

The survival rate for ovarian cancer refers to the percentage of people who have been afflicted with a particular type of ovarian cancer and are a particular stage of that cancer. Most statistics refer to a five year survival rate for ovarian cancer, which indicates the rate of survival for at least a period of five years after the diagnosis of the disease. Most five year survival rates for ovarian cancers are relative survival rate, wherein it is compared to the general population.

The survival rate cannot be used to determine the average of successful treatment and survival from ovarian cancer. It is just a statistic to gain knowledge about the condition across the population. This is because each individual case of ovarian cancer is unique and the survival rate is also dependent on a number of other factors such as, the stage and type of the cancer; if the cancer is a new diagnosis or a reoccurrence and the age and overall health of the afflicted woman

The survival rate for ovarian cancer for white women is about 44.2 percent and for black women, it is about 39.5 percent. This is as per 1996-2002 data.

The five year survival rate as per the stage is:

• 93.1 percent for localized
• 69.0 percent for regional
• 29.6 percent for distant
• 23.3 percent for unstaged

The five year survival rate for Invasive epithelial ovarian cancer is:

The five year survival rate for ovarian tumors with low malignancy is: