Fighting Ovarian Cancer Year Round

Learn how the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition is working to fight ovarian cancer all year long:

The National Ovarian Cancer Coalition does not stop raising awareness on ovarian cancer when September, ovarian cancer awareness month, comes to a close. The Connecticut Chapter continues to reach out into the community to educate on the early signs and symptoms in order to increase early detection and survival rates for women year round. 

Because there is currently no early detection test for ovarian cancer, raising awareness on the early signs and symptoms is key to saving lives. When detected early, the 5-year survival ate is over 90%. Unfortunately, because the symptoms are so vague, only 14.7% of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed in stage 1, when the cancer is confined to the ovaries.

Early warning signs for women to be aware of include bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly and feeling the need to urinate urgently or often. Other symptoms may include fatigue, upset stomach or heartburn, back pain, pain during sex, constipation and menstrual changes. If these symptoms are NEW to women and persisting for 2 weeks or more, they may want to consider talking with their doctor about a transvaginal ultrasound, which is the most accurate way to detect ovarian cancer.
Risk factors for ovarian cancer include genetic predisposition, personal or family history of breast, uterine, colon, rectal or ovarian cancers, increasing age, undesired infertility and obesity. It is important for women who fall into theses categories to be proactive in communicating with their physicians. 

While the NOCC places emphasis on education, the organization also provides support to newly diagnosed women in hospitals across the nation and invests in new research each year. 

With the support of our communities, the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition will continue to work tirelessly to prevent and cure ovarian cancer, and to improve the quality of life for survivors.

Read the full article here: http://cour.at/1HEtGsp

Math Formula Helping Fight Ovarian Cancer

More than truth lies in numbers. A math formula is now helping doctors fight ovarian cancer.

"The approach worked for me," triathlete and ovarian cancer survivor Leslie Russell of Houston says.The new approach determined Leslie Russell needed chemotherapy before surgery. More than a year later, doctors say her prognosis is great.
Houston doctors are employing a new approach against ovarian cancer that dramatically improves the likelihood tumors are completely removed during surgery, the key to beating the deadly disease.

The approach, now being used by all M.D. Anderson gynecologic oncologists treating advanced ovarian cancer, involves an initial laparoscopic procedure to better diagnose the extent of the disease and a mathematical formula that surgeons apply to predict whether the patient should go directly to surgery or receive chemotherapy first.

"This protocol enables us to personalize surgical therapy and be much smarter about its timing," said Dr. Anil Sood, an M.D. Anderson professor of gynecologic oncology and reproductive medicine and the effort's leader. "It results in much more precise surgery, which we think will lower death rates from ovarian cancer."

M.D. Anderson doctors have been treating ovarian cancer patients, about 155 now, with the new protocol since the spring of 2013, when the project was launched as part of the institution's Moon Shots program. The program seeks to improve treatment of eight difficult cancers or cancer groupings.

The team hasn't published any data on the approach because patients need to be tracked longer to determine outcomes. But Sood said the team is successfully removing all visible tumor cells of more than 90 percent of patients who go directly to surgery and 85 percent of those who undergo chemotherapy to reduce the burden of malignant cells prior to surgery. Historically, Sood said, surgery in advanced ovarian patients around the world achieves complete removal of tumor cells no more than 35 percent of the time.

Sood said he anticipates data will eventually show at least a 25 percent improvement in ovarian cancer survival rates.

Click the link to read the full article: http://www.chron.com/news/health/article/Math-formula-helping-fight-ovarian-cancer-5901796.php

Surgery Isn’t Only Option for Women With Ovarian Cancer Genes

If you find out you have the BRCA gene, do not think that surgery is your only option.  There are many ways to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.  Research has found that breast feeding, birth control pills, and having fallopian tubes tied all may help reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.  Learn more in the article below and always remember to talk with your doctor before making any decisions.  You can learn more here.

Breast-feeding, birth control pills and having fallopian tubes tied may help reduce ovarian cancer risk in women with BRCA gene mutations, a new review suggests.

Women with BRCA gene mutations are at increased risk for breast and ovarian cancers. These findings suggest ways that women with these inherited mutations can reduce their ovarian cancer risk without having their ovaries surgically removed, the University of Pennsylvania researchers said.
“Patients deserve better cancer-risk reduction options than surgically removing their healthy breasts and ovaries,” review co-author Dr. Susan Domchek, executive director of the Basser Research Center for BRCA at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, said in a university news release.

Domchek and her colleagues reviewed 44 studies and found that breast-feeding and tubal ligation were associated with lower rates of ovarian cancer in women with a BRCA1 mutation, while the use of birth control pills was associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer in women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.

The researchers also identified factors that may increase the risk of cancer in women with BRCA mutations. For example, smoking may heighten the risk of breast cancer in women with a BRCA 2 mutation.

The findings are to be published in the June issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
“Our analysis reveals that heredity is not destiny, and that working with their physicians and counselors, women with BRCA mutations can take proactive steps that may reduce their risk of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer,” lead author Timothy Rebbeck, professor of epidemiology and cancer epidemiology and risk reduction program leader at the Abramson Cancer Center, said in the news release.

“The results of the analysis show that there is already sufficient information indicating how some variables might affect the risk of cancer for these patients,” he added.

About 39 percent of women with a harmful BRCA1 mutation and up to 17 percent of those with a harmful BRCA2 mutation will develop ovarian cancer by age 70, compared with 1.4 percent of women in the general population.

Between 55 percent and 65 percent of women with a harmful BRCA1 mutation and 45 percent of women with a harmful BRCA2 mutation will develop breast cancer by age 70, compared with about 12 percent of women in the general population.

Both BRCA mutations have also been linked with increased risk for several other types of cancer, according to the researchers.

“It’s imperative that we continue examining and building upon past research in this area so that we can provide BRCA mutation carriers with options at every age, and at every stage of their lives,” Domchek noted.

Diet May Influence Ovarian Cancer Outcome

This article from Reuters shows that the quality of diet may actually affect a woman's chance of ovarian cancer survival. Keep reading to learn more:

Women with healthier diets before an ovarian cancer diagnosis are less likely to die in the years following the cancer than women with poorer diets, according to a new study.

The exceptions were women with diabetes or a high waist circumference, which is often linked to diabetes.

A healthy diet before diagnosis may indicate a stronger immune system and, indirectly, the capacity to respond favorably to cancer therapy, said lead author Cynthia A. Thomson of Health Promotion Sciences at the Canyon Ranch Center for Prevention and Health Promotion at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

“It also may reflect our capacity to sustain healthy eating after diagnosis, which in turn could support better health in a broader sense,” Thomson told Reuters Health by email.

Researchers looked back at 636 cases of ovarian cancer occurring between 1993 and 1998, 90 percent of which were invasive cancers.

The women had filled out dietary and physical activity questionnaires at least one year before their cancer diagnoses as part of the larger Women’s Health Initiative study. Researchers measured their heights, weights and waist circumferences.

The healthy eating index in this study measured 10 dietary components, scoring diets with a higher amount of vegetables and fruit, more variety in vegetables and fruit, more whole grains, lower amounts of fat and alcohol and more fiber as healthier than other diets.

On average, the women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer around age 63.

As of September 17, 2012, 354 of the women had died, and 305 of those died specifically from ovarian cancer.

When the researchers divided the women into three groups based on their diet quality, those in the healthiest-eating group were 27 percent less likely to die of any cause after ovarian cancer diagnosis than those in the poorest diet group, according to the results published in JNCI, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Read the full article from Reuters here: http://reut.rs/1t8rrIP