Six Questions to Find Ovarian Cancer Early

Yeap, 6 simple questions to find ovarian cancer early!
Read this off from New York Times. Click on the title to the original article.

There are more than 20 symptoms that have been linked with early ovarian cancer, including fatigue, back pain, constipation, urinary frequency and urgency, etc. These symptoms are so common and vague that they are often dismissed as unimportant.

Researchers are narrowing down the list until this week, 6 key symptoms, coupled with a blood test, helped improve the early detection of ovarian cancer by 20 percent.

Have you experienced any of the following symptoms?

• Pelvic pain
• Abdominal pain
• Bloating
• Increased abdominal size
• Difficulty eating
• Feeling full quickly

OMG! I'm so scared now! I had all these symptoms... *ahem* (clear throat) except for difficulty eating.

Okay, according to the researchers, if these symptoms persist for years, chances are they are signs of other health problems. So, I wonder what health problems I have... Gosh! Am I that unhealthy?

Back to the symptoms... BUT if the symptoms change in the past 12 months, you better talk to your doctor about your concerns. Most probably, you will be suggested to do a CA-125 blood test (err... Don't ask me what this is! I don't know! But I'll google out later) and a transvaginal ultrasound.

In the Fred Hutchinson study, the six-symptom list identified 50 percent of those women with early-stage ovarian cancer who did not have a positive CA-125 blood test result.

“If a woman has these symptoms and they are new to her and frequent, that would be a very good time to request the blood test and ultrasound in order to rule out ovarian cancer as a possible source of these symptoms,'’ said lead author M. Robyn Andersen, an associate member of the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center.