Cancer Treatment and Health Care

Frequency of Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer in women attending primary care centers

More severe symptoms or more frequent than expected and newly emerging diagnostic warrant further investigation because it is more likely to be associated with both benign and malignant ovarian masses.

Introduction

Ovarian cancer has been called the “silent murderer”, because it is believed that the symptoms do not appear until the advanced stages of the disease, when chances for cure are limited. However, several retrospective studies indicated that most patients have symptoms, although not necessarily a gynecological nature. These studies were criticized by the small number of patients included and the retrospective analysis used for data collection.

The aim of this study was to identify the frequency, severity and duration of symptoms typically associated with ovarian cancer in a population of women presenting in primary care. Comparisons were made with 128 patients with ovarian masses were monitored for symptoms prior to surgery, and before the establishment of the diagnosis of cancer or benign tumor. Read the rest of this entry »