Medical Keywords - Everything you need to know about health.

Treatment for Ovarian Cancer

The treatment that is used by most doctors in the treatment of ovarian cancer is surgery to remove the cancer and chemotherapy to destroy any cancer cells that were not removed.

Surgery decisions need to be done with the input of the woman because surgery for ovarian cancer may mean that her reproductive chances will not exist after surgery. If she wants to have children she needs to tell her doctor of her desire for children so surgery can be done in a way to preserve her chances if possible without jeopardizing her life. Typically women require the surgery that removes the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and the uterus as well as nearby lymph nodes and the fatty abdominal tissue known as the omentum. The omentum is a common area for cancer cells to spread to. Surgical debulking is also a surgical procedure that is done to remove as much cancer as possible from the abdominal area, which may involve removing part of the intestines. The surgeon may take samples during the surgery of surrounding tissues and any fluid found in the abdominal cavity. Samples will be used to identify the stage of cancer that will help determine if you need any further treatment.

Chemotherapy is anticancer drugs used after surgery and sometimes before to destroy cancer cells. The typical drugs used are carboplatin and Taxol that are given by intravenous administration. There are usually multiple doses given at intervals determined by your doctor. Women who have advanced ovarian cancer may receive a more intensive chemotherapy regimen. Side effects from chemotherapy may include nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, infection and leg and feet pain.

Cancer treatments are constantly being explored that will give women a better chance for survival. Some of the treatments that are being explored for ovarian cancer are new and improved chemotherapy drugs, ovarian cancer vaccines, gene therapy, and also immunotherapy, which is used to boost the body's own immune system in an effort to control the cancer. Mutated genes in ovarian cancer may be key to developing new drugs that might specifically target the function of these genes.

Therapy based on stages of cancer:

Stage I

Total abdominal hysterectomy, which is the removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes, omentectomy, a biopsy of lymph nodes and other tissues in the abdomen and pelvic area. Young women who still wish to conceive are usually left with one ovary (the unaffected by cancer one). If the cancer is low grade no other treatment is usually required.

Stage II

Hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy as well as debulking of the abdominal cavity to remove as much of the cancer as possible. After surgery treatment usually consists of a combination of chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy or a combination of chemotherapy.

Stage III

The treatment is the same as in stage II. There may be additional surgery required to remove any remaining cancer as well as a combination of chemotherapy.

Stage IV

Surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible followed by combination chemotherapy.