Women should familiarise themselves with the symptoms of ovarian cancer to enable them to make early diagnosis of the disease, before it advances to unmanageable levels.
A resident surgeon at AIC Litein Kericho Annex Clinic, Dr. Philip Blasto, has underscored the need to recognise early symptoms of the disease, such as alterations in the menstrual cycle, including bleeding in the middle of the month, abdominal distention without a specific reason, either from the growth of cells in the ovaries or the building up of abdominal fluid, as well as changes in bowel movements.
Ovaries are found in the female reproductive system, and they produce eggs as well as progesterone and oestrogen hormones. They are situated on the left and right sides of the uterus. Cancer of the ovaries occurs when there is cell growth in the ovaries.
‘The word cancer has featured a lot in the media, and people are afraid whenever it is mentioned. There are various cancers for which screening is available, but for ovarian cancer, there
are no screening modalities available.
There are no specific symptoms, but a patient stands a better chance of getting well if they note abnormal changes in their body before the cancer progresses rapidly to unmanageable stages. It is hard to diagnose them early unless someone has undergone ultra sound or imaging for other reasons,’ he said.
Dr. Blasto agitated for personal check-ups for early detection of the disease to enable early treatment, as there was no active screening for ovarian cancer.
‘Since the ovaries are very small, when you start to have the symptoms, the cancer has grown in size or there is excess fluid. It is really difficult to diagnose them early unless a patient has undergone ultra sound or imaging for another review, so then they are not easily noted. For ovarian cancer, there are no screening modalities available. People should seek health care even if they have swellings, as not all of them will be malignant and require chemotherapy, and some of them require basic surgery,’ he noted
.
The medic noted that there were no clear causes of ovarian cancer, though risk factors such as old age and family history can increase the development of the disease, which, when detected early, may be eliminated through surgery or chemotherapy.
He disclosed that the Kericho Annex clinic had conducted successful surgery on a 50-year-old woman, who, after a series of evaluations and a biopsy, was detected with a huge benign mass from one of her ovaries.
The woman had lived with a mass swelling on her abdomen for a period of four months, but upon a biopsy, it came out as benign, and we removed it through surgery. The mass swelling was around five kilograms. She is now doing well, added Dr. Blasto.
Source : Kenya News Agency