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What is Ovarian Cancer?

Ovarian cancer is a disease in which cancerous cells form in the tissue covering the ovary. The ovaries, which produce eggs, are positioned on each side of the uterus. Ovaries are the main source of a woman's female hormones--estrogen and progesterone.

Ovarian epithelial cancer--the most common ovarian cancer--is a disease in which cancerous cells form in the tissue covering the ovary. More than 20,000 American women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year.

Women who have a family history of ovarian cancer are at an increased risk of getting the disease. Women with an increased risk of ovarian cancer may consider surgery (removal of the ovaries) to prevent it. Possible symptoms of ovarian cancer include pain or swelling in the abdomen.
Assessing your risk

Treatment Options for Ovarian Cancer

Primary treatment is surgery to remove the cancer (through total hysterectomy to remove the uterus and cervix) as well as surrounding tissue to which the cancer has spread (debulking). Following surgery, chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs), such as carboplatin and paclitaxel, are given intravenously.

Surgeons who specialize in gynecologic cancers may perform a minimally invasive procedure (laparoscopic surgery) to measure the effectiveness of the current treatment and to determine whether you need additional chemotherapy or radiation therapy. This procedure involves a small incision in the abdomen, which reduces possible complications and shortens the recovery time.

Advanced Disease

If the cancer is advanced and has spread to other organs, surgeons team up with other specialists (gastrointestinal, urologic and liver) who can reconstruct the remaining organs so you may maintain function. For women with ovarian cancer that has recurred after initial treatment, drugs such as topotecan, doxorubicin, etoposide, gemcitabine and cyclophosphamide may be used. These drugs may be given orally or intravenously or through intraperitoneal injection (injection into the abdominal cavity).

Ovarian cancer tends to spread throughout the abdominal cavity. Radiation therapy is not usually an effective treatment on its own; however, it may be used to alleviate pain and weakness resulting from the cancer.

Intraperitoneal Therapy

Intraperitoneal therapy (delivering drugs through a catheter into the abdominal cavity) is used for limited, or isolated, disease. In contrast, chemotherapy uses the bloodstream to deliver drugs to the tumor.

Preserving Fertility

For patients who want to preserve the ability to have children, it is sometimes possible to remove only one affected ovary and its adjoining fallopian tube. If the cancer has spread beyond one ovary, however, debulking usually requires removal of both ovaries and their adjoining fallopian tubes, the uterus and pelvic lymph nodes. These tissues will be examined to find out whether the cancer has spread and whether additional therapy will be needed.

MyBiopsy.org Cancer diagnosis information for patients from the College of American Pathologists

For more information about gynecological cancer treatment and prevention at Fox Chase Cancer Center or to make an appointment, call 1-888-FOX CHASE (1-888-369-2427).