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After getting sick, Sister Li said: "It would be fine if I could detect earlier that I might be ovarian cancer, that is, when I just felt stomach pain."
There is no doubt that the earlier the tumor, the easier it is to treat it.
As for ovarian cancer, the I-stage of FIGO (International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology) stage I indicates that the cancer has not spread to places outside the ovaries, and the five-year survival rate of in stage I can reach more than 90% [1].
However, Because the symptoms of ovarian cancer are often atypical, is it right to check if the abdominal pain that Sister Li thought about when she just appeared?
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Ovarian cancer-type abdominal pain
In fact, abdominal pain caused by ovarian cancer is slightly different from abdominal pain caused by other diseases.
takes the navel as the dividing line, and the abdomen can be simply divided into the upper abdomen and the lower abdomen. According to the distribution location of the internal organs in the abdomen, abdominal pain in the early stages of ovarian cancer often occurs in the lower abdomen.
There are other organs in the lower abdomen, such as intestinal tract, urinary tract, bladder , etc. If lower abdomen suffers from pain, you should consider whether there are diseases in the intestinal or urinary system. For example, intestinal problems are often accompanied by changes in bowel movements such as diarrhea and constipation, and urinary system diseases are often accompanied by changes in urination such as frequent urination, urgency, pain in urination, hematuria and . When eliminating these possibilities, you should pay attention to ovarian cancer.
Ovarian is a female gonad. It may also be accompanied by changes in menstruation when it becomes sick. Pay attention to whether abdominal pain is accompanied by changes in menstrual cycle and menstrual volume.
Due to the small size and deep position of the ovarian organs under normal circumstances, the degree of abdominal pain is often not serious when the disease occurs in the early stage, and there are no obvious tender points on the body surface.
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Patients described this pain as: means feeling uncomfortable, but there was no accurate point in the pain.
Early warning of ovarian cancer
In addition to abdominal pain, these symptoms may also occur in early ovarian cancer:
Gastrointestinal discomfort: manifested as abdominal distension, abdominal pain, persistent indigestion
Gynecological symptoms related: menstrual disorder (abnormal vaginal bleeding), odor leucorrhea
Urinary system symptoms: frequent urination
Other discomforts: swelling of legs, fatigue, and loss of unknown causes
Among them, gastrointestinal discomfort is common, Therefore, ovarian cancer is often called gynecological cancer that first develops gastrointestinal symptoms.
suggests that when the above gastrointestinal symptoms occur, recommends going to the gastrointestinal department for examination. If the gastrointestinal examination is normal, it is recommended that people at high risk of ovarian cancer consider the possibility of ovarian cancer and go to the gynecology department for ovarian cancer diagnosis and examination.
How can ordinary people achieve early detection? The premature detection of
tumors is inseparable from screening, and the same is true for ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, there is currently no specific examination method that can screen ovarian cancer.
So, who is suitable for ovarian cancer screening and how to do it?
Professor Xiangyang, director of the Oncology Gynecology Center of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, once pointed out: "It is recommended that people with high-risk factors for ovarian cancer should pay attention to regular gynecological examinations." [2]
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What is a high-risk population for ovarian cancer?
1. High-risk factors for ovarian cancer include [3]:
2, age over 50 years old;
3, ovarian cancer, breast cancer , a history or family history of colorectal cancer;
4, mutation (abnormal) of breast cancer susceptibility gene (BRCA1 or BRCA2) gene or is associated with hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (Lynch syndrome) women who are in charge;
5, first pregnancy after the age of 35, or women who have not given birth in their lifetime or have infertility in their lives;
6, endometriosis patients;
7, taking estrogen (excluding progesterone ) for more than 10 years (such as hormone treatment after menopause), etc.;
How to do ovarian cancer screening?
screening for people at high risk of ovarian cancer mainly includes two parts: ultrasound and blood test. ultrasound is the color ultrasound of the uterus and attachments, and blood test is the serum tumor marker examination.
① Transvaginal ultrasound examination
Ultrasound examination can determine whether there are space-occupying lesions in the ovary to judge the benign and malignant nature of the tumor. What female friends need to note is that if the report sheet states that the cyst/mass/placeholder in the attachment area should be taken, they should go to the gynecological oncology clinic in time to consult a professional doctor whether further examination and treatment are required to rule out gynecological malignant tumors [4].
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② Serum tumor marker examination
carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), is the most commonly used tumor marker for ovarian cancer, and , especially serous carcinoma, is the preferred tumor marker for . normal reference range: <35μg/l.> is found to have abnormal increase, do not panic too much. It is recommended to go to the gynecological tumor clinic of the oncology hospital for further re-examination and evaluation first [5].
human epididymis protein 4 (HE4), is a tumor marker used in clinical practice in the past 10 years. Its diagnostic specificity for ovarian cancer (about 90% to 95%) is higher than that of CA125 (76.6% to 86.5%). The HE4 level is not affected by the menstrual cycle and menopause status. In premenopausal populations, its specificity for ovarian cancer diagnosis is better than CA125 [5].
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ROMA Index: ROMA Index is an evaluation model that combines the serum concentrations of CA125 and HE4 with the patient's menopause status. The value depends on the serum concentrations of CA125 and HE4, hormones and menopause status of CA125 and HE4. The study showed that the ROMA index had an average sensitivity of 76.0% for premenopausal patients and a specificity of about 85.1%, while in postmenopausal patients, the sensitivity was about 90.6% and a specificity of about 79.4% [5].
END
The probability of a woman suffering from ovarian cancer in her life is 1.3%. If unfortunately we become this 1.3%, I hope everyone can find it in stage I and be invincible on the road to anti-cancer through early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment!
Editor in charge: Gynecological tumor mutual aid jun
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