Cancer pathologies are today considered the least well known. Unclear etiology, prolonged latent development, extensive metastasis and frequent cases of relapse after surgery make malignant oncology deadly.
Ovarian cancer is also characterized by a long period of asymptomatic development, and metastasis begins already at the third stage of development.
Quite often, malignant cells penetrate into the nearby lymph nodes and abdominal cavity, forming metastases in them, which spread further into the vaginal tissues and other small-tidal organs.
During this period the patient begins to experience pronounced pains, which pushes her to go to the doctor. After a thorough diagnosis, the oncogynecologist will choose the most optimal treatment option.
Methods of treatment of ovarian cancer
The approach to the treatment of ovarian cancer is selected in accordance with the type of tumor process and its stage. The oncogynecologist, taking into account the general health, age characteristics and desires of the patient with respect to treatment, selects a therapeutic plan.
Usually treatment is a complex of several techniques and includes such directions as:
- Operative treatment;
- Chemotherapy;
- Radiation therapy, etc.
Surgery
The goal pursued by surgical treatment is the removal of the primary tumor site as much as possible.
The main method of removal in ovarian cancer is uterine extirpation together with both ovaries and appendages.
If you wish to preserve the reproductive functions, the patient, if possible, removes only one ovary, although such a decision is not always possible and depends on the degree of reproductive changes.
But quite often there is no possibility of preserving reproductive functions, for example, when the patient's life depends on the operation.
During the operation, the doctor examines the abdominal cavity and if it detects the penetration of the tumor into the bladder, intestines and other organs, the surgeon performs a partial removal of these organs.
Survival in ovarian oncology depends on correct and timely surgical intervention. But it is not always possible to remove all tumor tissues, so the doctor removes the possible, and then mandatory chemotherapy is performed.
Partial removal is usually done in the first two stages of oncology.
In other cases, the decision on such removal is strictly individual, but on the whole, such operations on 3-4 stages are no longer carried out.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy for malignant oncology of ovarian tissues is used quite rarely, because it does not have a high therapeutic effect. Usually it is prescribed in the treatment of relapses, when oncology does not lend itself to surgical and chemotherapeutic effects.
Radiation therapy is also used as part of palliative care, because it improves the quality of life due to the relief of pain symptoms.
As an independent method, radiotherapy is never used, it always complements chemotherapy, increasing its effectiveness, or surgical treatment, after which it destroys the remaining cancer cells.
Chemotherapy
After surgery or in its own form in ovarian cancer, chemotherapy is used, involving the use of drugs that depress the activity of malignant cell structures and inhibit the growth of cancers.
In addition, the use of anti-cancer drugs is justified as part of palliative therapy to facilitate the clinical picture and prolong the life of patients with 4 metastatic stage of ovarian cancer.
Traditional chemotherapy is of several types:
- Adjuvant - when a course of treatment with anti-cancer drugs is prescribed after surgical removal of the tumor;
- Non-adjuvant - when antineoplastic agents are prescribed for the purpose of preoperatively reducing the tumor.
Platinum drugs such as paclitaxel or carboplatin, which are combined with cytostatic agents( docetaxel, fluorouracil or cyclophosphamide), are used for chemotherapeutic treatment.
Nutrition for chemotherapy and after
In cancerous ovarian tumors, the body is strongly inhibited by malignant processes, so it needs additional resources to combat pathology.
They are given a specially selected diet, which must include:
- Dairy products like milk, butter, kefir, cheese or yoghurt. They are rich in vitamins and calcium, which contribute to the accelerated recovery of the body;
- Protein-rich foods - fish, soy, eggs, nuts, liver and meat. These products are rich in B vitamins and iron, so they are recommended to eat at least 2 r / d oncobolus;
- Vegetables and fruits. It is recommended to eat them in dried or fresh form. Such products strengthen immunity and help the body to recover more quickly.
Especially useful are freshly prepared fruit and vegetable juices, greens, etc.
Thermo perfusion
A similar technique of treatment is the thermal effect on cancer tissue, as a result of which the protein structure of the oncocells is damaged. As a result, there is a noticeable decrease in the tumor, which also becomes more sensitive to chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Thermoperfusion involves the treatment of ovaries and the proximal organs that have undergone oncology. Such treatment has many side effects such as bleeding, increased thrombosis, soreness, etc.
Therapy depending on the stage of the disease
The effectiveness of the therapy and the choice of its methods depend on the specific stage of ovarian cancer. Organ-saving operations are carried out at early stages of pathology.
If oncology has developed to 3-4 stages, then it will not be possible to save the ovaries and uterus.
Since ovarian cancer is more often detected at later stages of the pathology, the operations are also carried out mainly radical with removal of the ovaries, uterus, pelvic lymph nodes and fiber, fallopian tubes.
If the tumor process has spread to other organs, then their affected parts are removed as far as possible.
New in the treatment of ovarian cancer
Relatively new therapeutic direction in ovarian cancer is the combination of a bone marrow transplant with an aggressive chemotherapeutic effect.
Antineoplastic drugs kill not only cancerous, but healthy cells. After chemotherapy, the body is gradually restored, however, the hematopoietic and immune system takes the greatest impact on itself.
Sometimes the consequences of such treatment cause the development of infection, which quickly affects the weakened organism and increases the risk of death. If, after chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant is performed, then the body recovers faster.
As a result, it is possible to conduct more chemotherapeutic courses, which will make remission more prolonged.
Rehabilitation after
The course of rehabilitation after anticancer therapy can last for a long time, up to a year.
In order for the organism to recover faster, it is necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle, to eat rationally, to regularly attend training in curative gymnastics and massage sessions. There are no specific recommendations regarding the rehabilitation of cancer patients after treatment, most importantly, to comply with the doctor's prescription.
- A woman must necessarily revise her diet, adjust the mode of work and rest, avoid physical and psycho-emotional overload.
- To go to bed and get up in the morning is recommended at the same time.
- After the operation to remove ovarian cancer, it is necessary to exclude sexual contact for a month and a half or two.
- If there is a tendency to depression, then the patient should definitely seek psychological help.
Relapse and its symptoms
The risk of recurrence of ovarian cancer is due to the degree of development of the tumor process, in which the woman began to receive the necessary treatment. If the treatment of cancer began at the 3-4th stage of development, then a relapse in this case is a regularity, not an accident.
About occurrence of relapse speak symptoms like:
- of the General malaise, gradually increasing;
- Problems with intestinal permeability;
- Reduced performance and excessive fatigue;
- Reducing the volume of excreted urine;
- Intestinal disorders, diarrhea, belching or heartburn;
- Bloating or feeling heavy;
- Signs of rapidly developing ascites.
Prevention
Specific prevention of ovarian cancer in women does not exist, because as of today there is no exact etiologic picture of the disease. Therefore, the best and most effective prevention means oncologists consider regular gynecological examinations at least every six months.
In addition, women are urged to timely treat "female" pathologies and diseases of the ovaries, and also acquire offspring until the age of 30.
Video on how to treat ovarian cancer: