Mrs Rao (arbitrary name) is a 55-year-old lady who is very health conscious. She is very much aware of the symptoms of common cancers like breast and cervix and gets the screening tests like mammogram and pap smear regularly. Lately she has been experiencing abdominal bloating. Initially she assumed it to be due to some food she consumed which her tummy did not agree with. She also assumed she was gaining weight and getting obese especially around her abdomen. When these symptoms persisted, she visited her family physician who examined her and asked her to get an ultrasound. The ultrasound report was terrifying. She was told that she has a large partly solid and partly cystic mass in her right ovary along with free fluid in her abdomen. The sonologist opined that this mass is probably cancerous and advised CT scan and a blood test known as CA 125 and meet an oncologist.
The frequent reaction of many women when diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer is “Doctor I hardly had any symptoms. “ While patients find this surprising oncologists dealing with ovarian cancer do not feel so. Ovarian cancer is called the silent killer and rightly so. This is because patients have hardly any symptoms till the cancer reaches an advanced stage. The symptoms are usually very vague and nonspecific. Patients often mistake these for other common harmless conditions. Medical attention is sought only when the cancer reaches an advanced stage.
