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HOW TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS FOR OVARIAN CANCER?
Gynecological Oncology Surgery Specialist Prof. Dr. told, “Ovarian cancer is a cancer of the ovaries, one of the reproductive organs of women and 2 pieces in a normal woman. It usually does not give symptoms and is diagnosed in advanced stages”. In addition, although this disease is mostly seen in the post-menopausal period, it is a type of cancer that can occur at any age emphasizing ways to prevent the disease as follows:
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TAKE THESE COMPLAINTS SERIOUSLY
In ovarian cancer, it causes complaints such as irregular menstruation, non-menstrual vaginal bleeding, abdominal pain and, most often, swelling in the abdomen. Vague abdominal pain is unfortunately ignored by women and leads to further progression of the tumor. Depending on which of these complaints, it is the right move to contact a gynecologist as soon as possible.
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CAN IT BE AVOIDED?
In order to prevent ovarian cancer, it is necessary to surgically remove the ovaries, which is not the right approach. But this method can be applied in a selected very limited group. Prevention is not possible for the entire community, but it is possible to take precautions. This, in turn, can only be achieved by regularly performing gynecological checks. For this reason, I recommend that our young or fertile women go to the gynecologist if they have complaints that I mentioned above. Diagnosis is made by the experience of the doctor, ultrasonography, evaluation of the abdominal area with devices such as MRI or tomography, blood tests. The earlier the disease is diagnosed, the success of treatment also increases at rates approaching 100 percent. But patients treated at an early stage should not say” I survived”, they should continue their regular check-ups. Because the disease can recur even years later. For early detection, there is no choice but to go to a regular doctor, and this should be started no later than the age of 18. But it is not necessary to ignore two exceptional situations. First, regular checks should be started if there is sexual contact before the age of 18, and second, for possible complaints before the age of 18, a doctor should be consulted. In addition to having annual periodic checkups of menopausal women, it may be preferable for family-risky people to keep these periods at a frequency of six months.
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HERE ARE THE TREATMENT WAYS
In ovarian cancer, the primary treatment method is the removal of tumor tissues from the body by surgery. In surgery, the goal is not to leave any tumors in the abdomen, if possible. But sometimes it is not possible due to these conditions (for example, some very advanced cases). Apart from surgery and usually after surgery, drug therapy (chemotherapy) benefits quite high rates. In some selected cases, chemotherapy is started even before the operation. Radiation therapy (radiotherapy) is not routinely resorted to, but in rare cases, radiation therapy also produces good results.
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IS THERE AN INCREASE IN PANDEMICS?
Our expectation is that, unfortunately, as with all cancers, there will be an increase in ovarian cancer. But we need time to be able to say it on an evidence-based basis. Because the pandemic period naturally causes a decrease in people’s visits to the doctor, our guess is that the patients we encounter gradually come to us in later stages.
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