Cancer, if not caught in its early stages poses many difficulties when it comes to treatment. The same applies to ovarian cancer, especially since it has no specific symptoms that can be used for initial diagnoses. There exist no preventive measures against it and since it affects many thousand women across the country, it needs to be properly screened and found out at the earliest possible stage. This allows for a better outlook for patients who choose conventional treatment and boost life expectancy for those electing surgery. Unlike most diseases, ovarian cancer shows no specific kinds of symptoms in the early stages. Most problems are treated as hormonal disturbances and not checked for any irregularities.

There exists some symptoms that when experienced frequently in combinations, allows for a reason to check for ovarian cancer. These are loss of appetite, heaviness after a light meal, unexplained weight loss or gain, nausea, diarrhoea, frequent urination, constipation, inflammation or bloating of the stomach, indigestion and abnormal bleeding between menstrual cycles. When one has these symptoms for over three weeks with no relief from conventional remedies, then it can signal ovarian cancer. When suffering from persistent abdominal pains and discomfort, a pelvic examination may reveal a need for further screening. For women who have a family history of cancer in general or ovarian in specific are also advised to go in for a screening. The screening involves two main procedures, Transvaginal Ultrasonography or TVS and a CA 125 blood test.

The Transvaginal Ultrasonography is a screening procedure that can usually show ovarian cancer. This is however, not a perfect procedure and is not completely reliable. The CA 125 blood test is definitely more reliable than the TVS but too is not a 100% guarantee. For stage I patients, this can return a 50% true result and requires other procedures to supplement it. As the testing moves onto stage II, III and IV, the accuracy of the result goes up to 80%. Yet, it is best to get further screenings done immediately. Serial CA 125 testing is the best way to attain the reliable result since it takes into account the fluctuation of CA levels in the blood over several days and returns a result. There are other types of blood tests being developed for the screening of ovarian cancer. At the moment, only the OXVI test shows some sign of being used a diagnostic tool.

If a true positive result shows up on these screenings, it is advised to consult a doctor immediately and get oneself tested further and go in for further treatment. Ovarian cancer caught in the early stages can be controlled and treated without any further problems. This increases life expectancy for the patients and allows for a more intensive route of treatment that keeps the remission period stretched for longer. The most important thing, is to not ignore any warning signs your body may be sending you and immediately consult a gynaecologist when experiencing irregular or uncharacteristic bleeding, sudden fatigue or cramping in the abdomen for no reason.