Ovarian cancer, often called a silent killer, as it doesn’t have signs or symptoms in the early phases, which makes it exceedingly difficult to recognize.
Often diagnosed in advanced stages, it’s imperative don’t ignore these callings:
Bloating or fullness: Experience of fullness despite eating less or no food could be a symptom of ovarian cancer due the pressure effects caused by the mass. This leads to a compression effect in the abdomen which can lead to a sensation of being full or bloated up.
Early satiety and loss of appetite: When the mass effects increase further, it leads to an early satiety – meaning feeling full eating little. Coupled with loss of appetite overall, is usually associated with ovarian cancer when it is occupying large areas in the abdomen.
Abdominal pain: A chronic discomfort or pain in abdomen could be associated with ovarian cancer. It’s usually caused by the mass effect of the tumour cells and the associated inflammation that occurs along with it.
Fatigue: Fatigue associated with cancer is multifactorial from psychological to electrolyte imbalance to affect at the bone marrow levels leading to decrease in red blood cells causing decline in oxygen carrying capacity.
Also, cancer cells can cause fluid production called ascites, seen commonly in ovarian cancer which can cause difficulty in breathing and more energy being spent on breathing causing fatigue.
Weight gain or loss: Ovarian cancer can often lead to changes in weight – both an increase or a decline which is unintentional. Weight can typically occur because of mass effects and fluid accumulation that occurs. Weight loss occurs because of cachexia caused by loss of muscle mass caused by cytokines released by the tumour cells and a loss of appetite that often accompanies.
Increase in abdominal girth or lump in the abdomen
The mass effect of the tumour along with fluid retention in the abdomen – called ascites can cause an increase in the abdominal girth.
Please note – these symptoms by themselves DO NOT mean you have ovarian cancer. It’s important to discuss with your healthcare professional if you are experiencing them:
- They are new symptoms
- They are ongoing for a few weeks
- Occur at frequent intervals
It’s important to be aware of these symptoms to seek consult sooner than later. The earlier we diagnose cancer of any kind, the better chance we have to tackle it and higher recovery rates.