Abdominal pain and swelling in the abdominal area are common phenomena that can have multiple causes. However, few people are aware that these symptoms could be early signs of ovarian cancer. This finding has been confirmed by American scientists in a recent study.
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With these results, we can diagnose and treat ovarian cancer more effectively. After examining the medical records of nearly 20,000 female patients, researchers found that within the 12 months prior to diagnosis, the risk of symptoms such as abdominal pain and swelling in women with ovarian cancer was twice as high compared to those without the disease.
Dr. Lloyd H. Smith, the lead researcher, stated: “These results support the idea that before diagnosis, ovarian cancer patients often exhibit many early signs like these. If we pay attention to these early indicators, we can diagnose the disease sooner and provide timely treatment.
Of course, this does not mean that anyone with these symptoms has ovarian cancer, as it is not a very common illness. However, if these symptoms have unclear causes, it is best for doctors to perform pelvic ultrasound and test the patient’s serum to determine if they have ovarian cancer.”
Ovarian cancer is a rapidly progressing disease that can worsen within a year. Although the incidence of this disease in the U.S. has decreased since 1992, it remains the fourth most dangerous cancer for women in the country. This year, approximately 22,000 cases will be diagnosed, and around 16,210 people are expected to die from it.
According to Dr. Robert Morgan Jr., a member of the cancer research and treatment methods department at the City of Hope Cancer Center in California, this study is very significant because it confirms that such signs often appear more frequently in patients with ovarian cancer. He believes that doctors have a responsibility to pay attention to these signs whenever they encounter them.
Dr. Samuel Mok, a scientist conducting research on ovarian cancer at a Boston maternity hospital, agrees with Dr. Robert Morgan Jr.’s viewpoint and believes that doctors need to enhance their awareness regarding this issue. He further noted that most studies on ovarian cancer focus on identifying signs and methods for early detection, as clear symptoms typically only appear when the disease is advanced.
Returning to this research project, Dr. Smith and his colleagues analyzed and compared data derived from the diagnostic codes of nearly 20,000 patients stored in a database. All these patients were women over 65 years old, among whom 1,985 were diagnosed with ovarian cancer, 6,024 had breast cancer, and the remaining 10,941 had no cancer.
After comparing results, scientists concluded: women with ovarian cancer are twice as likely to experience abdominal pain compared to those without cancer. These signs typically appeared 9 months to 1 year before diagnosis. Overall, 40% of these women needed further examination for abdominal or pelvic pain symptoms within 36 days to 4 months prior to their ovarian cancer diagnosis. However, only 25% of them underwent pelvic ultrasound or CA125 serum testing within 4 months before diagnosis. Most were only subjected to abdominal ultrasound or gastric examinations, which often yield inaccurate results. In contrast, 54% of women with ovarian cancer underwent pelvic ultrasound or CA125 testing within 3 months prior to their diagnosis.
Dr. Morgan stated: “Using gastric examination methods is not wrong, but if they yield unfavorable results, we need to pay attention, as these could be signs of dangerous ovarian cancer.“
