Cancer Types

Treatment of ovarian cancer

If you have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, your doctor will discuss the best options for treating it. This depends on several factors, including:

Stage of cancer

The size (reduction) of the tumor after surgery

Your desire to have children

Your age and overall health

One or more of the following treatments can be used to treat ovarian cancer or relieve symptoms:

Precautions for ovarian cancer after surgery

Surgery is the main treatment for ovarian cancer. Typically, ovarian cancer surgery is to remove or biopsy the lump to find out if it is cancer. Once cancer is confirmed, the surgeon stages the cancer based on how far it has spread from the ovaries. If the lesions appear to be confined to one or both ovaries, the surgeon will perform biopsies of the pelvic and abdominal areas to determine if the cancer has spread.

Early symptoms of ovarian cancer

If it becomes apparent during surgery that the ovarian cancer has spread, the surgeon will remove as much of the tumor as possible. This may help other treatments work better.

The ovaries, uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, and omentum (the fatty tissue surrounding these organs), as well as any other visible pelvic and abdominal tumors can be removed during the tumor reduction process. The spleen, lymph nodes, liver, or intestines may also be partially or completely removed. Sometimes reducing the tumor is not possible because the patient is not healthy enough, or because the tumor may be attached to other organs. In these cases, any remaining tumors will be treated with chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy protocol for ovarian cancer

After surgery, you may need chemotherapy to eliminate ovarian cancer cells in your body.

Intraperitoneal chemotherapy for ovarian cancer (IP therapy) is a method of giving chemotherapy drugs. If a small amount of tumor remains after tumor reduction, it can be used. Sometimes IP chemotherapy works better than conventional chemotherapy. In abdominal perfusion therapy, concentrated chemotherapy drugs are injected into the abdominal cavity through a catheter (thin tube) or implanted port. This allows it to reach the cancer and areas of the body where the cancer can spread. These drugs can also enter the bloodstream and spread through the body.

Radiation therapy for ovarian cancer

Although radiation therapy is rarely used to treat ovarian cancer, it may help eliminate cancer cells that remain in the pelvic cavity. It can also be used if the cancer returns after other treatments. In most cases, the primary goal of radiation therapy is to control symptoms, such as pain, rather than treat cancer.

Targeted therapy for ovarian cancer

These targeted drugs stop the growth of cancer cells by interfering with certain proteins and receptors, or blood vessels, that provide the tumor with the substances it needs to grow.