Treatment
Treatment for ovarian cancer starts with surgery. Surgery is needed to stage the disease. Staging is when the surgeon takes many samples of tissue to look for cancer. By doing staging the doctor will know what the best treatment will be. Also during the surgery the surgeon will remove any cancer that can be. This can include the removal of both ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, omentum (the thin fatty pad tissue that covers the intestines), lymph nodes, and samples of tissues from the pelvis and abdomen.
If diagnosed with ovarian cancer your doctor may refer you to a gynecologic oncologist, a cancer doctor who specializes in the reproductive organs.
Most women with ovarian cancer have chemotherapy after they have surgery. Radiation is an option, but not often used. Chemotherapy uses anti-cancer drugs to kill cancer cells.
Cancer Treatment Options:
Treatment Cost
Treatment for cancer is very expensive. Medical expenses can run into the thousands of dollars. One can add to this travel, food, lodging, recovery, medication, and many other expenses. There are many organizations and community services that can provide help with the costs. Clinical trials are another option that can help with the cost of treatment and increase the potential for benefit in your treatment.
Treatment and surgery can also lead to a great loss of time. This is because of time off from work for the patient as well as time off required for your caretaker. Also treatment takes a toll on the body, and it takes time to recover from that and adjust to that. Quality of life is something important to look at as well. Doctors, you, and your family will want to make sure that you have quality of life while going through treatment and afterwards.
Prognosis
Unfortunately, there is no cure for ovarian cancer. While surgery and treatment might help to get rid of the cancer, there is always the potential for it to come back, spread, and kill you. 10 year survival or disease-free survival are the goals current therapies are going for. The stage you are diagnosed at will help possibly predict how long you will live. For 5 year survival. 92.7% will live if it is localized, 71.1% if it is regional and 30.6% for distant and 26.0% for unstaged. All of the 5- year survival rates found varied.
If diagnosed with ovarian cancer your doctor may refer you to a gynecologic oncologist, a cancer doctor who specializes in the reproductive organs.
Most women with ovarian cancer have chemotherapy after they have surgery. Radiation is an option, but not often used. Chemotherapy uses anti-cancer drugs to kill cancer cells.
Cancer Treatment Options:
- Local Therapy: Includes surgery and radiation. They remove or destroy ovarian cancer in the pelvis. If ovarian cancer has spread local therapy may be used to control the disease in specific areas.
- Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is given directly into the abdomen and pelvis. The drugs destroy or control cancer in the abdomen or pelvis.
- Systemic Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy given by mouth or injected into a vein so that the drug goes in the bloodstream and destroys or controls cancer throughout the body.
Treatment Cost
Treatment for cancer is very expensive. Medical expenses can run into the thousands of dollars. One can add to this travel, food, lodging, recovery, medication, and many other expenses. There are many organizations and community services that can provide help with the costs. Clinical trials are another option that can help with the cost of treatment and increase the potential for benefit in your treatment.
Treatment and surgery can also lead to a great loss of time. This is because of time off from work for the patient as well as time off required for your caretaker. Also treatment takes a toll on the body, and it takes time to recover from that and adjust to that. Quality of life is something important to look at as well. Doctors, you, and your family will want to make sure that you have quality of life while going through treatment and afterwards.
Prognosis
Unfortunately, there is no cure for ovarian cancer. While surgery and treatment might help to get rid of the cancer, there is always the potential for it to come back, spread, and kill you. 10 year survival or disease-free survival are the goals current therapies are going for. The stage you are diagnosed at will help possibly predict how long you will live. For 5 year survival. 92.7% will live if it is localized, 71.1% if it is regional and 30.6% for distant and 26.0% for unstaged. All of the 5- year survival rates found varied.
Disclaimer:
This site was built as a student created project. The creator of this site is not a medical doctor. The information contained in/on this site is for informational and educational purposes only. The author, publisher, distributor, and provider of this site provide no guarantee as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. This site should not be used as a self-diagnosis tool. The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Do not rely on the information on this website as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you have any questions about any medical matter you should consult your healthcare provider. If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition you should seek immediate medical attention. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information on this website.