Information of Ovarian Cysts and Pregnancy

Last Updated on Friday, 21 October 2011 09:28 Written by Natural Health Team Friday, 21 October 2011 09:28

Health Information about Information of Ovarian Cysts and Pregnancy

Information of Ovarian Cysts and Pregnancy

, together, is a condition experienced by many women. Ovarian cysts, in most cases, are harmless and pose no major threat to the pregnant woman. They do not hamper a normal pregnancy in any way and vanish on their own, with time. Before discussing ovarian cysts and pregnancy further, lets find out what are ovarian cysts.

Ovarian cysts are the benign cysts with thin walls, containing a harmless fluid. In most cases, these cysts go away on their own. Sometimes, however, the cysts may become very large or painful and might even break or rupture, leading to bleeding. The cysts may also sometimes be cancerous, leading to ovarian cancer, or they may obstruct the blood supply of the ovaries. In such scenarios, proper treatment is required to get rid of them, as they can pose a major threat to the woman.

Ovarian cysts during pregnancy seldom produce any symptoms. That is why, most of the ovarian cysts are detected accidentally, during pregnancy related examinations. However, a woman who has large cysts or has those that have ruptured, may experience similar symptoms of ovarian cysts and pregnancy, such as stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. Thus, doctors, on detecting ovarian cysts, first of all, make sure that these symptoms experienced by the pregnant woman are pregnancy symptoms only, and are in no way related to ovarian cysts.

Complex ovarian cysts i.e overgrown cysts or ruptured cysts can be very dangerous for a pregnant woman’s health. Firstly, overgrown cysts i.e up to 8 cm in size, exert immense pressure on the bladder and the bowel of the pregnant woman. Secondly, cysts growing on stem, if bent, can cause intense pain to the pregnant woman. Sometimes, the ovarian cyst pain can be so acute that it may lead to a miscarriage or may induce an early labor in a pregnant woman. Both these conditions can pose a major health problem to the woman as well as her unborn child.

The doctors, first of all, make sure that the ovarian cysts are benign and are not a threat to the pregnancy. For this, they conduct various tests including ultrasounds, to confirm that there are no cancerous cysts.

Doctors generally prescribe OTC medications, such as pain killers and anesthesia, for ovarian cyst pain relief. For ruptured ovarian cysts, surgical procedures such as cystectomy, which involve surgical removal of the cysts, is conducted in non-pregnant women. However, a woman with ruptured ovarian cysts, and pregnancy condition together, is recommended, not to go in for surgery as it might create some complications afterwards. However, if the cysts become very big i.e more than 8 cm, doctors remove the cysts using procedures such as laparoscopy, and in case of very big cysts, open incisions. Surgery during pregnancy is usually done in the second trimester.

Having chamomile tea can bring relief from the pain arising out of ovarian cysts. Hot compresses on the abdomen and the pelvic area can bring pain relief too. Pregnant women are recommended to include foods rich in vitamin A and vitamin B in their diet, to reduce the discomfort arising out of the ovarian cysts. Pain can also be reduced by eating parsley and tomatoes.

Ovarian cysts and pregnancy, together, is a harmless condition in about 95% of the cases. However, ovarian cysts can be dangerous too, if the cysts are found to be malignant. In such a case, either or all of surgeries such as oophorectomy, salpingectomy and hysterectomy are usually done, depending upon the growth of the cancer.

Proven Natural Remedies to cure Ovarian Cysts

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Ovarian Cancer ? Types With Treatment

Last Updated on Thursday, 6 May 2010 03:42 Written by Natural Health Team Thursday, 6 May 2010 03:42

Ovarian cancer is cancer that begins in your ovaries. Only women have ovaries, so only women get this kind of cancer.

Many types of tumors can start growing in the ovaries. Some are benign, meaning they are noncancerous. Benign tumors do not spread and can be treated by removing one ovary, or part of the ovary. Ovarian cancer, however, is a cancerous tumor. If a cancerous tumor is not treated, it can spread to other parts of the body. To better understand what is happening inside you, it will help you to understand the basic anatomy of the ovaries.

Epithelial tumors

Epithelial tumors occur in the epithelium, which is the tissue that covers the outside of the ovary. About 90% of ovarian cancers are of this type. The risk of epithelial ovarian cancer increases with age and occurs mostly in women over 60, but it can develop at any age.

There are several types of epithelial cancers of the ovary. They include:

• serous

• mucinous

• endometrioid

• clear cell

• undifferentiated or unclassifiable.

Germ Cell Tumor.

These types of tumors develop in the egg-producing tissue. Approximately 5 percent of women with ovarian cancer have germ cell tumors. This cancer type usually occurs in teenage girls and young women and is effectively treated when it is detected in the incipient stages.

There are 2 Germ Cell Tumour

Endodermal sinus tumor: This is a rare type of tumor that develops in girls and young women. It is characterized by a rapid growth process and can spread quickly. Chemotherapy is the most effective treatment option for this type of germ cell tumor.

Choriocarcinoma: This is another rare type of cancerous tumor that develops in the placenta during pregnancy. Choriocarcinomas can grow and spread rapidly. The most effective treatment option for this type of tumor is chemotherapy.

Stromal tumors.

These tumors develop in the estrogen- and progesterone-producing tissue that holds the ovary together.

Borderline Ovarian Cancers

Borderline ovarian cancers may be composed of serous, clear cell, endometrioid or mucinous material, but spread slowly and have a high cure rate. Ten to fifteen percent of epithelial cases are borderline, and they develop most often between the ages of thirty and eighty. In most cases, surgical removal is enough to cure a borderline growth.

Serous Tumors

Forty percent of epithelial tumors are serous growths. Serous cells produce a thin, watery fluid. Serous growths may be benign (serous cystadenoma), or malignant (serous cystadenocarcinoma). Fifty percent of such growths are malignant. Women between the ages of forty and sixty are most likely to develop serous tumors.

Treatment

Local therapy: Surgery and radiation therapy are local therapies. They remove or destroy ovarian cancer in the pelvis. When ovarian cancer has spread to other parts of the body, local therapy may be used to control the disease in those specific areas.

Surgery — The first step in treating ovarian cancer usually involves surgical removal of as much cancerous tissue as possible (called optimal surgical debulking or optimal cytoreduction). Optimal surgical debulking impacts the woman’s prognosis (cancer outcome) it also influences the choice of chemotherapy treatment as well. A woman is more likely to have optimal cytoreduction if her initial surgery is performed by a gynecologic oncologist, a specialist in cancers of the female reproductive system. This topic is addressed elsewhere.

ovarian cancer

Ovarian Cancer Survival: the Importance of Early Detection

Last Updated on Wednesday, 5 May 2010 03:42 Written by Natural Health Team Wednesday, 5 May 2010 03:42

Buried in the basin, the ovaries are difficult to examine. Thus, cancers affecting them are often discovered late. If improvements are to provide treatment, the prognosis remains closely linked to early care.

Ovarian cancer is the fifth largest female cancers in US, with 4 000 new cases per year. But his prognosis remains very bleak as it is often discovered at a late stage. Panorama from an unknown disease.

Ovarian cancer is relatively uncommon. All too often discovered at a late stage, this cancer is difficult to treat. As it is detected late, ovarian cancer has a fairly bleak prognosis. Each year, 3 800 american die from that cancer. The survival rate of ovarian cancer is just over 30% in 5 years, while for breast cancer, it is about 75%.

Few women are genetically predisposed to ovarian cancer. Genetic factors were responsible for 5 to 10% of cancers of the ovary. Between 160 and 320 women are suffering from a hereditary cancer of the ovary annually. Family mutations of certain genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2 rarely, are known to predispose strongly to this cancer, with an earlier age (before age 50). Alteration of these genes is also responsible for predisposition to breast cancer.

Without benefitiating from screening test, ovarian cancer has long been nicknamed the silent killer because symptoms are supposed to appear at an advanced stage of the disease. But the results of a recent study could detect that kind of cancer more quickly.

Early detection is an incredible challenge: 70 to 90% of women with ovarian cancer detected at a primary stage are still alive five years after diagnosis against only 20 to 30% of those whose cancer was diagnosed at an advanced stage. And unfortunately, the second scenario is more often met … Some figures show awareness of this scourge, female: 4 488 new cases and 3 508 deaths directly linked to the disease in the year 2006

Characteristic symptoms: Beware of the trio!

Researchers have followed 1 408 women who were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire about symptoms experienced with the previous year. Among the proposed events can include pelvic pain, abdominal, low back pain, the urge to urinate, constipation, weight loss, unexplained, and so on. The severity, duration and frequency of these signs were also informed. The same procedure was conducted on 128 women awaiting surgery for pelvic tumors, including ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is no longer the silent undetectable killer . Even women with cancer at preliminary stages have signs. Paying attention to certain symptoms (or rather their frequency or severity), it may be possible to react in time!

The diagnosis of ovarian cancer is based on clinical examination, gynecological and a determination of tumor marker, supplemented by medical imaging examinations, including pelvic ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. But only the surgical exploration allows a complete diagnosis of the local extension of ovarian cancer.

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What are the Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer?

Last Updated on Tuesday, 4 May 2010 03:43 Written by Natural Health Team Tuesday, 4 May 2010 03:43

What is ovarian cancer?

Ovarian cancer is a disease in which malignant cells are found in an ovary. There are three types of ovarian tumors, named for the tissue in which they are found:

epithelial cell – cells that cover the surface of the ovary. Most of these tumors are benign (noncancerous). However, epithelial ovarian cancer accounts for 85 percent to 90 percent of ovarian cancer cases.

germ cell – cells that form the eggs in the ovary.

stromal cell – cells that form the ovary and produce female hormones.

Ovarian cancer has often been called the “silent killer” because symptoms are not thought to develop until advanced stages when chance of cure is poor. In fact, textbooks in internal medicine, family practice, and even gynecology state that symptoms do not occur until the disease is advanced.1-4 However, several retrospective studies have indicated that the majority of patients do have symptoms, although not necessarily gynecologic in nature.5-9 These studies have been criticized because of small numbers of patients included and the retrospective chart analyses used for data collection.

Physical symptoms of ovarian cancer include:

abdominal discomfort or pelvic pain
bloating
difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
frequent urination
fatigue
backache

changes in bowel or bladder habits – constipation, diarrhoea, or needing to pass urine more often

Ovarian cancer in its early stages often does not cause any symptoms at all. When symptoms do start, they are often vague and easily mistaken for more common illnesses.

If you have any of the above symptoms it is important to have them checked by your doctor, but remember they are common to many other conditions and most women with these symptoms will not have cancer.

At the moment there is no evidence that routinely screening all women for ovarian cancer would save lives. Some studies are looking at screening women with a family history of ovarian cancer.  Others are looking into screening all women over a certain age.  Once ovarian cancer has been diagnosed, the main treatments are surgery and chemotherapy.

When symptoms do appear, they are generally so vague that they are often ignored. The most common signs are abdominal swelling or bloating, lower abdominal discomfort, a feeling of discomfort, a feeling of fullness even after a light meal, and loss of appetite. Other complaints may include gas, indigestion, nausea, and weight loss.

As the cancer grows it may affect nearby organs such as the bladder and large bowel, causing frequent urination and constipation. Occasionally, vaginal bleeding can be a symptom of ovarian cancer.

Unfortunately, few advances have occurred in the early detection of ovarian cancer, the most virulent gynecologic malignancy. Physicians still rely on physical examination, a blood test measuring levels of CA 125 and radiologic studies. Cancer Center gynecologic pathologists were some of the first to discover that some ovarian tumors are not cancerous or precursors of cancer. These tumors, known as “low malignancy potential,” can often be removed by skilled Gynecologic cancer surgeons without destroying a patient’s fertility. This finding has been particularly significant for women who have not completed their childbearing.

ovarian cancer

Was Your Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosed?

Last Updated on Monday, 3 May 2010 03:43 Written by Natural Health Team Monday, 3 May 2010 03:43

Two Percent of All Female Newborns in the United States Are at Risk of Getting Ovarian Cancer

As many as 30,000 U.S. women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year. In 2006, between 15,000 and 16,000 women are likely to die from this silent killer. Ovarian cancer is the 5th leading cause of death among women, and it is responsible for about five percent of all cancer deaths. Chances are your doctor may have misdiagnosed you. That is often the case. A recent British study found 60 percent of all U.K. general practitioners had misdiagnosed their patients. Three-quarters of British doctors surveyed incorrectly assumed that symptoms only occurred in the late stages of ovarian cancer. Based upon that information, it should be no surprise that Britain has one of the lowest survival rates for ovarian cancer in the Western World – of 6,800 cases diagnosed each year, more than 4,600 die.

A similar discovery was made by University of California researchers, who announced last year, “Four in 10 women with ovarian cancer have symptoms that they tell their doctors about at least four months — and as long as one year — before they are diagnosed.” According to their study of nearly 2,000 women with ovarian cancer, the researchers discovered physicians:

• First ordered abdominal imaging or performed gastrointestinal procedures instead of the more appropriate pelvic imaging and/or CA-125 (a blood test that can detect ovarian cancer).

• Only 25 percent of patients, who reported ovarian cancer symptoms four or more months before diagnosis, were given pelvic imaging or had CA-125 blood tests.

Patients with early symptoms are frequently misdiagnosed. Abdominal imaging or diagnostic gastrointestinal studies are less likely to detect ovarian cancer. According to the American Cancer Society’s website, “The most common symptom is back pain, followed by fatigue, bloating, constipation, abdominal pain and urinary urgency. These symptoms tend to occur very frequently and become more severe with time. Most women with ovarian cancer have at least two of these symptoms.”

By the time a woman reaches the fourth stage of ovarian cancer, her first-line treatment is often Carboplatin, Paclitaxel and Cisplatin as the specific chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. In the first stage, cancer is contained inside one or both ovaries. By stage two, the cancer has spread into the fallopian tubes or other pelvic tissues, such as the bladder or rectum. When the cancer has spread outside the pelvis area into the abdominal cavity, especially when tumor growths are larger than two centimeters on the lining of the abdomen, then ovarian cancer has reached stage three. The fourth and final stage of ovarian cancer is reached when the cancer has spread into other body organs, such as the liver or lungs.

If detected early, survival rates can be as high as 90 percent. Detected in the advanced stage, the survival rate falls to between 30 and 40 percent. Various imaging tests such as computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and ultrasound studies can confirm whether a pelvic mass is present. A laparoscopy can help a doctor look at the ovaries and other pelvic tissue to in order to plan out a surgical procedure, or to determine the stage of the ovarian cancer. A biopsy, or tissue sampling, would confirm if there is cancer in your pelvic region, and would help determine how advanced it is. An elevated CA-125 blood test typically suggests the cancer has progressed to the advanced stage.

About 50 percent of ovarian cancer patients are already at an advanced stage by the time a correct diagnosis is made. Only 10 to 14 percent of women with advanced cancer are likely to survive more than five years.

Evaluation of Therapies

While research shows drinking black (or green) tea or taking the herbal supplement gingko biloba may be useful, as a preventative measure, or to reduce risk, a woman has few choices when her cancer has moved to the advanced stage. In the first stage, a woman faces surgical removal of the tumor, and possibly one or both ovaries, to increase her chances of survival. Beyond that, her choice is chemotherapy.

One major problem with chemotherapy is the side effects. The more advanced the cancer, the weaker one may be, reducing the survival rate potential. Survival rates have not changed very much over the past fifteen years. Chemotherapy can increase survival time by as much as 50 percent. But, quality of life suffers. The side effects and increased toxicity, accompanying chemotherapy, reduce how one spends the prolonged survival time.

Some of Paclitaxel’s minor side effects, as reported by Medline Plus, may include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, change in taste, thinned or brittle hair, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, changes in the color of nails, and/or tingling in the hands or toes. More serious side effects may include mouth blistering or fatigue. Some alarming side effects could include unusual bleeding or bruising, dizziness, shortness of breath, severe exhaustion, chest pain, or difficulty swallowing. The most common side effect of Paclitaxel is a decrease of blood cells.

Carboplatin has its own list of side effects. It can reduce platelet production, which can interfere with your blood’s ability to clot. You may become anemic, feeling tired or breathless. Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and a general feeling of weakness are common with this chemotherapeutic agent.

The latest breed of drugs, such as Eli Lilly’s Gemzar, are hardly getting praise. On March 10th, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was skeptical of the benefits Eli Lilly’s Gemzar, which was being used with Carboplatin to treat ovarian cancer patients. The FDA felt the 2.8 months increased survival time, provided by the Gemzar/Carboplatin combination failed to offset the treatment’s increased toxicity.

In January, the New England Journal of Medicine reported on a remarkable new delivery system of chemotherapy, called the “intra-abdominal, or intraperitoneal, chemotherapy. Those who received the “belly bath” as it is now being called by the media can survive 16 months longer than those receiving intravenous chemotherapy. The major drawback is that 60 percent of the women in the study were unable to complete all six cycles of this chemotherapy. Those who did survived longer, but only two in every five women were able to advance to the end phase of the therapy.

One novel approach, now in Phase III trials at more than 60 research centers across the United States, is OvaRex ® MAb, a murine monoclonal antibody, a type of biotech drug derived from mouse cells. It is being tested by highly regarded United Therapeutics, based in Silver Springs, Maryland. Their lead drug Remodulin, an injection which treats pulmonary arterial hypertension, is currently being marketed inside and outside the United States. More than $32 million has been spent researching, and on the development of, OvaRex and may have it available on the market by 2008.

OvaRex was developed in Canada by a company called ViRexx Medical Corp, and first tested in that country. According to Dr. Lorne Tyrrell, Chief Executive of ViRexx, “The whole study has been set up with the FDA. This is a study where the drug has been given fast track approval and orphan drug status.” Dr. Tyrrell is also on leave (until OvaRex become commercially available) as a Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Alberta, and Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Viral Hepatitis Research.

OvaRex was tested in Canada, prior to the current Phase III trials in the U.S. “There have been a number of patients that have received OvaRex,” said Dr. Tyrrell, “We’ve had really no adverse effects from these patients.” Dr. Tyrrell explained the procedure, “After being injected intravenously, OvaRex binds to an antigen circulating in the blood.” An antibody’s general purpose is to neutralize an antigen. After an OvaRex injection, the murine monoclonal antibody binds to the CA-125 antigen.

In a way the body is tricked. But, the body is tricked in order to help “save” itself from the harmful antigen. When the OvaRex antibody is bound to the CA-125 antigen, the new combination is identified as a harmful unit. Before then, the antigen wanders through the body, without alerting the body’s defense systems, the dendritic cells, to attack and destroy the harmful antigen. Because the body is trained to identify and zero in on a foreign protein, in this case a mouse protein, it alerts the dendritic cells. Until then, the dendritic cells “tolerate” the cancerous cells. The tolerance is what permits the cancer to spread throughout the body.

OvaRex seeks to break that tolerance. The murine monoclonal antibody is designed to target and bind exclusively to free floating CA-125 antigen. The dendritic cells refuse to tolerate the foreign protein. When the antibody binds with the free-floating antigen, the dendritic cells recognize the complex (antibody plus antigen) as being foreign and engulf the new unit. The dendritic cells break down the key proteins of this unit, presenting all parts on the cells surface. At the point, the body’s killer T-Cells are alerted to fight the internal threat to the body. Once activated, the T-Cells will replicate and create more killer T-Cells. Any tumor cells expressing the CA-125 antigen is targeted for destruction. The army of T-Cells move to attack the ovarian cancer tumor.

The principle behind OvaRex is to re-program the immune system to harness the body’s defenses to prevent the growth and spread of the ovarian cancer. Will it cure ovarian cancer? “In most cases, it will be a delay,” explained Dr. Tyrrell. “However, I think that, and everyone hopes that, often in some of these tumors, you’re making incremental progress through careful clinical trials and adding new therapy. Each thing we do that improves the outcome when you start to look at the long term benefits of these, we hope that one day we will be able to cure this disease. We think this is a step. This has the potential to be an important step at helping to stimulate immune response to achieve a better outcome. Hopefully, one day we can improve that to where it is a cure.”

ovarian cancer