Ovarian cancer

Alternative names:

cancer of the ovaries

Symptoms:

• sense of pelvic heaviness
• vague lower abdominal discomfort
• vaginal bleeding
• weight gain or loss
• abnormal menstrual cycles
• increased abdominal girth
• non specific gastrointestinal symptoms: increased gas,
  • indigestion, lack of appetite, nausea and vomiting, inability to ingest usual volumes of food, bloating

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• urinary frequency/urgency, increased
• hair, excessive on females

Note: There may be no symptoms until late in the disease.

Signs and tests:

Physical examination may reveal increased abdominal girth and /or ascites (fluid within the abdominal cavity). Pelvic examination may reveal an ovarian or abdominal mass.

Tests include:

• a CBC
• blood chemistry
• an HCG (quantitative)
• a serum HCG (blood pregnancy test)
• alpha fetoprotein
• a urinalysis
• a GI series
• serum progesterone
• pregnanediol
• estriol - urine
• estriol - serum
• estradiol - test
• 17-ketosteroids
• laparotomy exploratory
• transvaginal ultrasound
• an abdominal CT scan or MRI of abdomen (quite limited diagnostic capabilities in this illness)