OVARIAN CANCER PATIENTS

Ovarian Cancer Patients

Ovarian Cancer Patients

Introduction

The ovarian cancer is the 4th foremost cause of cancer death among women, in America. The silent killer as the disease is often referred to kills more women than all the Gynecologic Oncology combined (What Every Woman Should Know, n.d.). Silent because of the frequency in which early symptoms are disregarded by patients and are not brought to the attention of physicians until the disease's late stages when prognosis is poor. In the early stages of the disease symptoms presented are few, if any. They often vague and confused with other abdominal abnormalities (O'Rourke, 2003), currently reliable testing is not available with absolute validity to screen for early detection of this type of cancer. The CA-125 serum tumor marker is a blood test used most often but the test is not proven to be a reliable indicator of the disease.

Problem Statement

There is a problem with the testing to aid in the early detection of ovarian cancer. This has resulted in an increased number of late stage diagnoses which has resulted in an increased mortality rate in women diagnosed with the disease. This problem has negatively constrained early detection of the disease.

Discussion

A diagnosis of ovarian cancer is a calamity for any woman. Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate of the cancers attacking the female reproductive organs. "The high mortality associated with this disease is due in part to problems associated with early diagnosis" (Mannis, 1999, p. 47). The lack of distinctive symptoms that women experience in addition to the lack of effective mass screening procedures, make early detection often difficult (Mannis, 1999).

The current screening procedures are not perfect. Improved screening methods to identify women with early stage ovarian cancer is critically needed. Many organizations have increased their research efforts in this area. If answers are ...