Term Paper on "Ovarian Cancer"

Term Paper 8 pages (3456 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Ovarian Cancer

What exactly is Cancer? Cancer is any type of malignant growth or a malignant tumor that is caused by an abnormal amount of cell division, or an uncontrolled amount of division. The disease once it sets in may spread to the rest of the body either through the lymphatic system or through the blood stream. Cancer is also a generalized term that is used to refer to the more than a hundred diseases that are related to abnormal cell division or growth. What happens is that the diseased cells that may be in the form of a tumor or a generalized mass, may spread on to the other unaffected pats of the body and end up destroying the normal unaffected cells within the body. (Define Cancer)

This in turn may end up causing new cancers in those unaffected parts of the body. It is most often a fatal disease unless it is detected in its very early stage and treated appropriately. Cancer is usually divided into about three broad categories for easy identification. These are: carcinomas, which are in essence those cancers that are derived from those cells that are found in the linings of the various different tissues of the body, sarcomas, which are those cancers that are derived from the underlying supporting tissues of the body, and the hematologic tumors, which are those cancers that are derived from the bloodstream and the lymphatic tissue systems. (Define Cancer)

Ovarian Cancer is the disease that is produced by the rapid growth and division of cancerous cells within one or both the ovaries of a woman. The ovary in other words is the reproductive organ of a woman where the woman produces the ova or the eggs, along with other female reproductive hormones. The ovaries when in a normal condition are capable of reproducing the cells within and this in turn maintains the normal healthy condition of the underlying tissues near and in the ovaries. When this normal growth pattern happens to be interrupted for whatever reason, then the cells start to multiply so fast and so without control that it results in the formation of a cellular mass or what is otherwise known as a tumor. The tumor may be confined to a few surface cell layers, like for example, where it has no chance of invading and affecting the underlying layers of tissues near the tumor. In this case, the tumor is said to be 'benign'. If, however, the dividing cells mange to affect the surrounding layers of tissues, then it is said that the cells are 'malignant' or cancerous. (Oncology Channel, Ovarian Cancer)

Sometimes it so happens that the cancerous cells break away from the original tumor and end up in another entirely different part of the body. This process is known as 'metastasis'. Many different kinds of tumors can be formed within the ovaries of a woman, in fact more than thirty known types. However, ovarian cancers are generally divided into three main categories, according to the type of cells that formed them, which are: epithelial cancers, that are the most common form o f ovarian cancers, and which are formed from the various cells that line or cover the ovaries. The second broad category of ovarian cancer is the germ cell cancer, which in other words means that this cancer starts from germ cells within the ovaries. Germ cells are those cells that have the capacity of becoming an egg. The third category of ovarian cancer is that of cancer of the sex cord, that is, the stromal cell cancers that are formed within the cells that are responsible for holding both the ovaries together and that produce female hormones. (Oncology Channel, Ovarian Cancer)

When the patient is suspected to be suffering from ovarian cancer, the attending physician generally conducts an exploratory laparotomy in order to assess whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the ovary and where it has actually spread. For this purpose, the physician who is usually a gynecologic oncologist, makes an incision in the patient's abdomen up to the ovaries, and ascertains the spread of the disease. If he finds that the ovary is indeed affected by the cancerous cells, then he removes as much of the tumor as is possible for him to remove. Sometimes, if the cancer is seen to have spread to a large area within the ovary, then it is necessary for him to remove one ovary, and this phenomenon is referred to as 'unilateral oophorectomy'. In most of such case, however, the physician removes not only one ovary but both, and also the uterus, the fallopian tubes, and the omentum, which is the fatty tissue that covers the bowels. In the case when one small part of the tumor is removed to ascertain the presence of cancer cells within the ovary, the part removed is sent for 'biopsy'. (Ovarian Cancer, Staging)

This step not only helps the physician ascertain the presence of cancer but would also help him to discuss the various treatment methods that are available for the treatment of cancer with the patient. This is called the 'staging system' and it helps the physician to a great extent in discovering the spread of the caner within the ovaries, whether it is in stage one which means that only one ovary has been affected, or whether it is in stage two where the cancer has spread to the pelvic organs but not to the abdomen, or whether it is in stage three where the abdominal organs are also involved, or in stage four, where the cancer has spread to distant sites, like as far as the neck, or stage five, where the cancer is in its recurrent form, that is, it has come back after the patient has successfully completed his course of treatment. Once the particular stage is ascertained, then the treatment methodology can be adapted to that particular stage, and the patient would have more chances of recovery. (Ovarian Cancer, Staging)

What are the 'risk factors' for ovarian cancer? A risk factor can be explained as anything that may increase the chances of a person getting the disease, and the different cancers have different risk factors too. For example, increased exposure to sunlight when unprotected may increase the risk factor for skin cancer, while smoking may increase the risk factor for lung cancer, and so on. Scientists and researchers have discovered several different risk factors for ovarian cancer, and the surprising fact is that there is no known risk factor for ovarian cancer, though the risk may increase due to certain specific reasons, and this too dose not necessarily mean that all women who show one or the other of the risk factors may develop ovarian cancer. One high risk factor for ovarian cancer is the age of the woman, wherein the woman after menopause is more prone to ovarian cancer than younger women; more than half of all ovarian cancer cases are found in women who are above the age of 65. (What are the risk factors of ovarian cancer?)

Obesity is also a major contributing factor for risk in ovarian cancer, and the heavier the woman, the more prone she is to ovarian cancer. The woman's reproductive history, that includes facts such as when did the woman start to menstruate; if it was before the age of 12, then she is at risk, when did the woman have her first child; if it was after the age of 30 then she is at risk, did she in fact have a child, when did she enter the phase of menopause, where the menstruation stops, and so on. In cases where the woman opts for certain types of drugs to increase her chances of being able to bear her own child, like 'clomiphene citrate', the chances of developing hard tumor like growths within the ovaries are more, and these growths may increase the risk factor for cancer. These tumors are also known as LMP tumors, or 'tumors of low malignant potential'. However, even if the woman has not had any drugs for the purpose of infertility treatment, if she is indeed infertile, then she is at risk from ovarian cancer.

The family history of the woman is also very important and is one of the major risk factors in ovarian cancer, and if the mother or the sister or the daughter of the woman has suffered from ovarian cancer, and this had been developed at a very young age, then the woman is at high risk from suffering the same disease at some stage in her life. The increased risk factor for cancer can in fact be inherited form the mother's side and the father's side of the family, and about 10% of ovarian cancers is formed because of this inherited tendency to develop the cancer, and if the inherited disease is that of change or mutation of the breast cancer causing gene 'BRCA1' or BRCA2', then the risk for… READ MORE

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