Removal
There are two ovaries in the female anatomy that are on the sides of the uterus. Ovarian cancer develops when cells in the ovaries are abnormal and they clump together to form tumors. If these tumors do not spread and are noncancerous, they are called benign. However, when these tumors are malignant, they are cancerous and cells can travel to other parts of the body. Once pelvic exams are done and cancer has been diagnosed, the treatment process then begins. One of the ways ovarian cancer can be treated is with surgery. This surgical procedure is quite in-depth as the ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes, omentum and nearby lymph nodes are all removed to eliminate the current cancer cells and prevent it from spreading.
Injection
Chemotherapy is usually used as a follow-up treatment after surgery. This is characterized by the administration of cancer-killing drugs to avoid the spread of cells to other parts of the body. Usually two drugs called Taxol and Paraplatin are injected into the body in unison.
When ovarian cancer is more advanced, a more intense form of chemotherapy is often performed where regular injections are done in conjunction with injections directly into the abdominal cavity by way of a catheter. This is done to reach harder-to-reach cancer cells that the normal treatment can't get to.
Radiotherapy
When the ovarian cancer is confined to just the ovaries and there has been no spread to the organs, radiotherapy can be utilized. The cancer cells are killed by way of high-energy gamma rays that can be delivered two ways. One of the procedures is similar to a normal X-ray where a radiotherapy device is used outside the body. The other way is through the injection of radioactive phosphorus into the peritoneal cavity that is located in the abdominal area.
Alternatives
In some cases, there are women who do not respond well to the conventional treatments. One of the options that can be used is hormone therapy. Some examples of these are estrogens, progestins, antiestrogens, androgens and gonadtropin.
Lifestyle
According to the Mayo Clinic, "eating well, managing stress and exercising are ways to promote your overall health and may help you better take care of yourself if you have ovarian cancer." Some points of interest that revolve around this include eating high-protein foods, eating as many healthy foods as possible and eating smaller meals.
Exercise comes with a few benefits when it comes to ovarian cancer, as well. First of all, it comes with the physical benefits of relieving stress, anxiety, depression and fatigue. Secondly, it can keep muscles from deteriorating from not being used for a long period of time.
Relaxation activities can also be utilized such as yoga, tai-chi, meditative breathing and stretching.
