---

Cancer experts have identified a set of health problems that may be symptoms of ovary cancer, and they are urging women who have the symptoms for more than a few weeks to see their doctors.

The new advice is the first official recognition that the disease, long believed to give no warning until it was far advanced, does cause symptoms at earlier stages in a number of women.

The symptoms to watch out for are bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly and feeling a frequent or urgent need to urinate. A woman who has any of those problems nearly every day for more than two or three weeks is advised to see a gynecologist, particularly if the symptoms are new and quite different from her usual state of health.

Doctors say they hope that the recommendations will make patients and doctors aware of early symptoms, lead to earlier diagnosis and, perhaps, save lives, or at least prolong survival.

But it is too soon to tell whether the new measures will work or whether they will lead to a flood of diagnostic tests or even unnecessary operations.

Cancer experts say it is worth trying a more aggressive approach to finding ovary cancer early. It is among the more deadly types of cancer, because most cases are diagnosed late, after the disease has begun to spread.

This year, 22,430 new cases and 15,280 deaths are expected in the United States alone.

If the cancer is found and surgically removed early, before it spreads outside the ovary, 93 percent of patients are still alive five years later. Only 19 percent of cases are observed that early, and 45 percent of all women with the disease survive at least five years after the diagnosis.


Posted by: Emily    Source