(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Hamad Medical Corporation's (HMC) Women's Hospital is observing the Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month this September to raise awareness of gynecologic cancers and highlight how they affect women.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), five main types of cancer affect a woman's reproductive organs: cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, and vulvar.
As a group, they are referred to as gynecologic cancers. Each gynecologic cancer is unique, with different signs, symptoms, and risk factors (things that may increase a woman's chance of getting cancer). The CDC says women can lower their risk for some of these cancers by receiving human papilloma virus vaccine and getting screened for the cancers.
It adds that when any of the cancers is found early, treatment works best. Gynecologic cancers impact women worldwide, accounting for 19 percent of the 5.1 million estimated new cancer cases each year, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Ovarian cancer has been identified to be the leading cause of death out of the gynecological cancers, in Europe and the United States, and also the fifth leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. But when ovarian cancer is found in its early stages, it can be very treatable.
"Ovarian cancer may cause one or more of these signs and symptoms: unusual feeling of fullness, bloating in the area below the stomach, pain in the pelvic or abdominal area (the area below the stomach and between the hip bones); back pain; pain during sexual intercourse; abnormal bleeding and a change in bathroom habits such as having to pass urine urgently or very often, constipation, or diarrhea," said Dr. Afaf Al Ansari, Senior Consultant, Gynecological Oncology at the Women's Hospital.
"The incidence of ovarian cancer increases with age, with the average age of diagnosis being 63. More than 70 percent of cases present with advanced disease because the symptoms are vague and non-specific, such as bloating, abdominal distention and early fullness," explained Dr. Al Ansari, highlighting that known risk factors for ovarian cancer are having a first child later in life, obesity, a menstrual cycle that started at a young age, a late menopause, genetic predisposition and certain fertility drugs.
"Ovarian cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the ovaries. Women have two ovaries, one on each side of the uterus. The ovaries, each about the size of an almond, produce eggs (ova) as well as the hormones estrogen and progesterone," said Dr. Al Ansari. She explained that ovarian cancer often goes undetected until it has spread within the pelvis and abdomen. "At this late stage, ovarian cancer is more difficult to treat and can be fatal. Early-stage ovarian cancer, when the disease is confined to the ovary, is more likely to be treated successfully." "Early ovarian cancer often has no signs or symptoms, and any that exist are often mild, making this disease difficult to detect. This means it is very important to pay attention to your body and know what is normal for you. If you think something is different or you detect changes in your body it may be that it is caused by something other than cancer, but the only way to know for sure is to see your doctor or go for regular check-up every two to three years," Dr. Al Ansari advised..
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