First Line of Treatment for Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is cancer that starts in the ovaries. According to American Cancer Society, there are over 21,500 new cases of ovarian cancer every year, and 14,600 deaths. The first line of treatment for ovarian cancer is surgery.

Purpose

• The three main tumors that develop in the ovaries are epithelial tumors, germ cell tumors and stromal tumors. Surgery is the attempt to physically remove these tumors from the body, whether they are benign or malignant.

Process

• Surgery involves removing the uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes. This is to see how far the cancer has spread and what stage it is in, to help determine further treatment. For women with early cancer who still wish to have children, only the affected ovary and fallopian tube are removed.

Procedure

• Debulking is another goal of surgery. This means removing all tumors that are bigger than one centimeter. This gives women a better chance of survival than leaving the big tumors in.

Further Procedure

• A surgeon will also remove the omentum, which is the fatty tissue inside the abdomen, and check to see whether the cancer has spread there.

Follow-up

• For those in stage two or three ovarian cancer, surgery will be followed by chemotherapy.