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Ovarian cancer
Definition:
Ovarian cancer is a malignant neoplasm (abnormal growth) located on the ovaries. Alternative Names:
Cancer - ovaries Text Continues Below
Causes, incidence, and risk factors:
Ovarian cancer is fairly uncommon, yet it is the 5th leading cause of cancer death in women. It is also the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers. The cause is unknown. The disease is more common in industrialized nations, with the exception of Japan. In the United States, the lifelong chance of developing ovarian cancer is 1 out of 40-60 women. Older women are at highest risk. More than half of the deaths from ovarian cancer occur in women between 55 and 74 years of age. About 25% of ovarian cancer deaths occur in women between 35 and 54 years of age. Ovarian cancer symptoms are often vague and non-specific, so women and their physicians frequently attribute them to more common conditions. By the time the cancer is diagnosed, the tumor has often spread beyond the ovaries. Also, ovarian cancers shed cancer cells that often implant on the uterus, bladder, bowel, and lining of the bowel wall. These cells can begin forming new tumor growths before cancer is even suspected. No cost-effective screening test for ovarian cancer exists, so more than 50% of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the advanced stages of the disease.
The risk for developing ovarian cancer appears to be affected by several factors. The more children a woman has, the lower her risk of ovarian cancer. Early age at first pregnancy and the use of some oral contraceptive pills have also been shown to have a protective effect. In contrast, the use of fertility drugs may be associated with an increased chance of developing this cancer, although there is ongoing controversy over this.
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