Subtle Symptoms Of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer often is characterized by symptoms so subtle that they often go unnoticed until the cancer has spread elsewhere. Most women who develop ovarian cancer get a diagnosis only when the disease is far advanced.

If ovarian cancer is caught early, though, the five-year survival rate is 90 percent. Knowing the subtle symptoms of ovarian cancer and talking to your doctor when you do have potential signs of ovarian cancer can make the difference in your long-term health.

“That is definitely something about ovarian cancer that has been often communicated that it's a silent killer, that it's a disease that just pops up. One day you're great, and the next day you've got disease everywhere,” said Tina Ayeni, MD, a gynecologic oncologist with Franciscan Physician Network in Indianapolis. “A big research study showed that this is actually a disease that does have symptoms.”

What Are Early Symptoms Of Ovarian Cancer?

“The symptoms often are frequent urination, new back pain, fatigue, and what I would categorize as ‘I'm not eating comfortably,’” Dr. Ayeni said. “With that last one, it's like if you have your favorite food in front of you, and you take one or two bites and it's just, ‘Ugh, I can't get through these pancakes with extra butter and syrup,’ which would be my favorite meal, I know something's wrong. If you're not eating well, you're having a change in your energy level, that frequent urination and the back pain, those are the symptoms of ovarian cancer. It's not necessarily going to be sharp pain.”

If you consistently experience several of the following problems, make an appointment with your doctor to be on the safe side.

• Bloating, fullness, and pressure in the abdomen
• Pain in the abdomen, pelvis, or lower back
• Unexplained changes in your bowel movements
• Unexplained weight loss or weight gain, particularly weight gain in the abdomen
• Frequent or urgent urination
• Fatigue
• Pain during intercourse

Dr. Ayeni said women should not be quick to dismiss potential symptoms of ovarian cancer.

“Who doesn't have back pain? Who doesn't have frequent urination?” she said. “When it comes to those more general symptoms, if you're having frequent urination, usually you'll get treated with antibiotics. You'll feel better. Almost always that's the case for my patients who ultimately end up seeing me, but then the symptoms come back, and there isn't a good explanation. That's when a pelvic exam needs to be done if it hasn't already, and that's often what's absent.

“When I'm meeting patients being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, sometimes there's months of treating a UTI, but no one's done a pelvic exam. The other thing I would say with back pain, many people do have low back pain. The key is it's different. There's something that's changed in the discomfort in your back. You have to have an awareness of how your body functions. If there's something different, lean into that. Don't ignore it.”

What Are Later Symptoms Of Ovarian Cancer?

“As the cancer advances, the symptoms become more obvious,” Dr. Ayeni said. “There's more pressure, discomfort, difficulty passing your stool, but the early symptoms often are symptoms that women can experience.”

How Will My Doctor Check For Ovarian Cancer?

To check for ovarian cancer, you'll first have a pelvic exam. Your doctor will examine the area around your ovaries for unusual lumps and will check the ovaries themselves to see if they're swollen. You may have a CT scan, ultrasound, or one of the other tests that provide your doctor with an image of your internal organs. A surgical procedure called a laparotomy is used to confirm the presence of cancer.

Can Ovarian Cancer Be Cured?

The American Cancer Society estimates that over 20,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in a given year. The good news is ovarian cancer can be cured if caught early. Women diagnosed at an early stage of the disease (they make up about 20 percent of all cases) are ordinarily treated successfully. According to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, most of them are cured. Unfortunately for women diagnosed in the later stages of the disease, the survival rate can be as low as 29 percent.