Ovarian Cancer Health Center
Treatment Overview
The choice of treatment and the long-term outcome (prognosis) for women who have ovarian cancer depends on the type and stage of cancer. Your age, overall health, quality of life, and desire to have children (preserve fertility) must also be considered.
- Surgery is done to confirm and treat cancer. Removal of all cancerous tissue and taking biopsies to check for the spread of cancer (surgical staging) is important for diagnosis and treatment, because the amount of cancer remaining (residual cancer) after the initial surgery may affect your outcome.
- Chemotherapy, which uses medicines to kill cancer cells, is recommended after surgery for most stages of ovarian cancer. Chemotherapy that is given after a surgery is called adjuvant therapy.
Initial treatment
The goal of the initial surgery is to remove all visible cancer. The type of surgery you will need depends on the stage of your cancer and if you want to be able to have children after having the surgery.
Understanding Ovarian Cancer -- the Basics
Flanking the uterus are the two ovaries, each about the size of an almond, which produce eggs and female hormones. Ovarian cancer can occur at any age, even in childhood, but is most common after menopause. The disease accounts for about 22,000 new cases and almost 15,000 deaths in the U.S. annually. During her childbearing years, a woman's ovaries deliver eggs to the uterus through the fallopian tubes. The ovaries are susceptible to several types of growths, which are often benign cysts...
Read the Understanding Ovarian Cancer -- the Basics article > >
If you have early-stage (stage I and low-grade [grade 1]) cancer and you wish to have children, your surgery may include:
- Removal of your cancerous ovary and fallopian tube.
- A biopsy of your other ovary.
- Removal of fatty tissue (omentum) that is attached to some of the abdominal organs.
- Removal of lymph nodes in the pelvis and near the large blood vessel (aorta) in the belly.
- Biopsies of other tissues and peritoneal fluids (peritoneal washings) from the belly to look for cancer cells.
Your uterus and the healthy ovary will remain, so it may be possible for you to become pregnant.
If you have a more advanced stage (stage II, III, or IV) of cancer, or you have stage I and do not want to have children, your surgery may include:
- A hysterectomy, which removes your uterus, and a salpingo-oophorectomy, which removes your ovaries and fallopian tubes.
- Collection of peritoneal fluid.
- Removal of pelvic and aortic lymph nodes (lymph node dissection).
- Removal of fatty tissue (omentum).
- Removal of as much cancerous tissue as possible.
- Biopsies of any tissue that may be cancerous.
Because this surgery removes all the reproductive organs, you will not be able to become pregnant after having it.
Chemotherapy is recommended after surgery for most women. Paclitaxel (Taxol) and carboplatin or cisplatin are commonly used medicines. The number of treatment cycles you have will depend on the stage of your disease. Chemotherapy may be given into a vein (intravenous, or IV). Or it may be given into your belly (intraperitoneal, or IP). Studies show that women who have IP treatment live longer than women who have IV treatment. But the side effects are worse with IP treatment.
Home treatment measures may help relieve some of the common side effects of cancer treatment, such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue, hair loss, stress, or sleep problems.
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
Ovarian Cancer Guide
