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Ovarian Cancer
Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Lawsuits Legal Options
What Is Ovarian Cancer? (epithelial ovarian cancer)
Ovarian cancer is cancer that begins in the ovaries. In women, the ovaries produce eggs (ova). Your ovaries are also the main source of the female hormones, estrogen and progesterone. One ovary is located on each side of your uterus in the pelvis.
Cancer of the ovaries can be cured if caught in time. However symptoms of the disease are non-specific, which means that there is nothing that can be specifically attributed to this type of cancer. As a result, it is often diagnosed only after the cancer has spread to other areas.
See more on this at Ovarian Cancer treatment breakthroughs
Read about research and causes at Ovarian Cancer Government Site
One Ovarian Cancer linked lawsuit:
Taxol® Dispute Settled
There has been a settlement of a lawsuit which could benefit
ovarian cancer patients who received Taxol as part of their treatment
program.
Negligence may happen in follow up exams.
Was your abnormally long treatment waiting time forced buy the health care professional? Timely standards for treatment times and follow up schedules are well documented. If your waiting time or misdiagnosis of follow up X-rays , blood tests or imaging tests has caused severe pain or more possibly unavoidable health risks, then contact our law offices for legal options.
Blood and urine tests may also be done, as well other procedures, depending on the woman's symptoms and results of her physical exam. These procedures include:
abdominal or transvaginal ultrasound--helps distinguish fluid-filled cysts from a solid tumor
CAT scan--produces x-ray images of cross-sections of body tissues
lower GI series (barium enema)--visualizes the bowel on x-ray to detect abnormal areas that may be caused by ovarian cancer
intravenous pyelogram (IVP)--produces x-ray pictures of the kidneys, bladder and ureters (tubes carrying urine from the kidneys to the bladder). Often, ovarian cysts or tumors can cause pressure on these organs, which may show up on an IVP.
Early Treatment Crucial
A short story of exam follow up
Trusting her instincts may have saved Jessica Marsh's life. Due in part to her own vigilance and persistence, Marsh (not her real name), a secretary in Rockville, Md., was diagnosed before her cancer had spread beyond the ovary, affording her a brighter prognosis.
For three months in the fall of 1985, Marsh, then 36 years old, had noticed pains in her right side around the time of her menstrual periods. Although the pains were brief and not severe, she decided to have her doctor check it out. A week or so before her appointment, however, a very sharp pain prompted her to call the doctor again. Her gynecologist was out of town, but the doctor on call had her come in.
"He told me that my stomach was distended, gave me a pelvic exam, and then congratulated me, telling me I was three months pregnant," Marsh recalls. "I told him I wasn't pregnant, that I already had two children and knew what it was like to be pregnant, and this was not a pregnancy."
At Marsh's insistence, the physician arranged for her to have a pelvic sonogram that day at a local hospital.
"I had the sonogram and the next thing I knew, the doctor who had examined me at the office came in, repeated the sonogram, and told me there was a mass and he wanted to do some more tests. The next morning, I had surgery to remove my ovaries, uterus, and fallopian tubes."
Although Marsh's experience may not be typical, it illustrates again the difficulty in correctly diagnosing the disease early. Yet, early detection and treatment can mean the difference between life and death.
The only sure way to diagnose ovarian cancer, however, is through microscopic examination by a pathologist of abnormal-looking fluid or tissue. While fluid can sometimes be obtained by needle aspiration or other techniques, more commonly a laparatomy or laparoscopy is done. Laparotomy is an exploratory operation in which the surgeon examines the abdomen thoroughly and removes fluid or tissue for examination. In laparascopy, a flexible, lighted tube is passed through a small incision in the abdomen, allowing the surgeon to examine the area and extract tissue for a biopsy.
What Are The Risk Factors for Ovarian Cancer?
A risk factor is anything that increases a person's chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. For example, unprotected exposure to strong sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer. Smoking is a risk factor for cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bladder, kidney, and several other organs.
Researchers have discovered several specific factors that increase a woman's likelihood of developing epithelial ovarian cancer. These risk factors do not apply to other less common types of ovarian cancer such as germ cell tumors and stromal tumors.
Age
Reproductive history
Fertility drugs
Talcum powder: It has been suggested that talcum powder applied directly to the genital area or on sanitary napkins may be carcinogenic (cancer-causing) to the ovaries. Most but not all studies suggest a slight increase in risk of ovarian cancer in women who used talc on the genital area. In the past, talcum powder was sometimes contaminated with asbestos, a known cancer-causing mineral. This may explain the association with ovarian cancer in some studies. Body and face powder products have been required by law for more than 20 years to be asbestos-free. However, proving the safety of these newer products will require follow-up studies of women who have used them for many years. There is no evidence at present linking cornstarch powders with any female cancers.
Estrogen replacement therapy and hormone replacement therapy: Most studies suggest women using estrogens after menopause may have a slightly increased risk of developing ovarian cancer, but some studies have not found any effect on ovarian cancer risk.
A recent study suggested that using estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) increases the risk of developing ovarian cancer, and that the risk increases with continued use. The risk among women who used ERT for longer than 10 years was almost double that of women who had never used it, and the risk among those who used it for 20 years or more was tripled. (Remember, however, that the average lifetime risk for ovarian cancer is only about 2%.) Women who used ERT for less than 10 years or stopped its use more than 15 years ago appeared to have a smaller, but still noticeable increase in their ovarian cancer risk.
The decision to use HRT or ERT after menopause should be made by a woman and her doctor after weighing the possible risks and benefits. Factors to consider include your other risk factors for ovarian cancer, breast cancer, osteoporosis (thinning and weakening of bones), and the severity of menopausal symptoms.
A cancer diagnosis and its treatment are major life challenges, with an impact on you and everyone who cares for you. Before you get to the point where you feel overwhelmed, consider attending a meeting of a local support group. If you need individual assistance in other ways, contact your hospital's social service department or the American Cancer Society for help in contacting counselors or other services.
For years after treatment ends, regular follow-up exams will be very important for you. These can detect recurrence (the cancer coming back). Be sure to tell your doctor about any new or persistent symptoms right away.
Follow-up usually includes a careful general physical exam and blood tests for tumor markers that help recognize recurrence. The choice of which tumor marker blood tests to check depends on the type of cancer a woman has. CA-125 is the tumor marker used in follow-up of women with epithelial ovarian cancers. For women with germ cell tumors, blood tests for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and/or human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) are done. Imaging studies such as chest x-rays, CT scans, and ultrasound may also be done if symptoms or other test results suggest a recurrence.
Other chemotherapeutic agents used to treat ovarian cancer include Cytoxan and Neosar (cyclophosphamide), Paraplatin and Adriamycin (doxorubicin), and Hexalen (altretamine). A recent addition is Hycamtin (topotecon, approved in 1996 to treat ovarian cancer that recurs after other chemotherapeutic agents have failed. Hycamtin is the first of a new class of drugs called topoisomerase I inhibitors. They kill cancer cells by inhibiting an enzyme essential to the replication of human DNA.
Side Effects
Surgery, the first-line treatment for ovarian cancer, requires several days' hospitalization and a recuperative period of from four to six weeks. Removing the ovaries, which are the main source of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone, causes immediate menopause, and the symptomatic hot flashes are more severe than when menopause occurs more gradually, as it usually does naturally.
Radiation therapy can cause mild skin reactions, such as redness and drying in treated areas, urinary discomfort, diarrhea, and vaginal dryness. (Menopause can also cause vaginal dryness.) A small percent of patients may develop bowel obstruction, sometimes requiring surgical correction.
Other possible side effects of radiation therapy, commonly experienced with chemotherapy as well, include loss of energy and appetite, nausea, and vomiting.
Chemotherapy may also cause mouth sores, hair loss, and reduced platelet and blood cell counts that can lead to infections, anemia or bleeding. The drugs used to treat ovarian cancer may also have neurologic effects, causing hearing loss, ringing in the ears, nerve damage, and numbness or tingling in the face, fingers and toes. There may also be kidney damage.
Most side effects are temporary, and sometimes dietary changes or medicines can ease the symptoms. There are several drugs approved for countering nausea and vomiting often associated with chemotherapy. They include Zofran (ondansetron hydrochloride), Reglan (metocloparamide), and Marinol (dronabinol).
Transfusions can correct red blood cell and platelet deficiencies. Hematopoietic growth factors such as G-CSF, approved in 1991, stimulate production of infection-fighting white blood cells. GM-CSF, which also received FDA approval in 1991 to increase white blood cell counts after bone marrow transplantation, is now being studied for its effectiveness in stimulating white cells after cancer chemotherapy. Among other drugs now under study for their ability to increase white cell counts, and perhaps platelets as well, are stem cell factor and PIXY 321. PIXY 321 is a genetically engineered product consisting of GM-CSF and another hematopoietic growth factor, interleukin-3.
When therapy is completed, the woman continues to have regular checkups that include pelvic examinations and laboratory tests to measure blood levels of tumor markers such as CA 125. The doctor may recommend a laparotomy or laparoscopy after completion of chemotherapy to inspect the abdomen and pelvis and take multiple tissue biopsies. This "second-look surgery" helps evaluate the effectiveness of chemotherapy and determine whether treatment should be continued or stopped. Often a laparotomy or laparoscopy has been done previously to diagnose ovarian cancer.
read more at Statistics About Ovarian Cancer
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