Ovarian cancer hitting middle aged women

PUDUCHERRY: Cases of epithelial ovarian cancer, one of the most fatal diseases, are on the rise among middle-aged urban women, Dr K S Reddy, Professor and Head, Department of Radiotherapy, Regional Cancer Center (RCC), JIPMER, said here on Sunday. Addressing a Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme on the occasion of International Gynaecologic Cancer Awareness Day, he said epithelial ovarian cancer, a silent killer, was diagnosed, often in its third stage. Hence it is fatal Dr Reddy also said the country does not have very good screening programme for the detection of the disease. Dr.Ananthanarayanan, jipmer Director -in-charge inaugurated the CME. Later, talking to newspersons, he said cancer is a complex disease and the fi rst treatment of the disease should be the best. Dr.Reddy said cancer was not a ‘notifi able disease’ in the country and only fi ve or six cities have registries about the cases. He said nearly 3500 new cancer cases, mostly referred from other hospitals, is registered in jipmer. As per the information available, epithelial ovarian cancer rarely has any symptoms in the early stages. By the time a patient has large abdominal growth or other signs, the disease would have spread considerably or even spread to other organs. It is important to undergo periodic clinical examination, transvaginal ultra sound, and know where the disease is spreadingCA- 125 estimation of blood should be done. The treatment for this cancer is mainly surgery and chemotherapy. With newer drugs and aggressive treatment, 70-75% cancers respond. Over a period of time more than 2/3 rd to 3/4 th of patients come back with this disease. The post recurrence treatment results are variable. Epithelial ovarian cancer is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, especially among middle-aged women. During the year 2002, it ranked third world wide in frequency (4.1%) among all cancers in women. In India, cancer of the ovary is one of the most common cancers in women and occupied third/fourth rank among cancers affl icting team during the year 2004- 2005. During this same period, the proportion of ovarian cancer varied from1.7% to 8.7% of all female cancers in various urban and rural population-based registries, he said. According to a study by the World Health Organization (WHO) study, one in 12 women in urban India will develop cancer in their lifetime. Approximately 40 per cent of new cases of cancer in India affl ict women. Breast cancer has overtaken cervical cancer as the most common among women in Indian cities like Mumbai and Delhi. India has the highest rate of cervical cancer in the world. It accounts for about 73000 deaths per year. Breast cancers and ovarian cancers have shown a steady increase in numbers from 1968 to 2005, he said.