Laura Poy Solano
Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, May 5, 2022, p. 13
In Mexico, ovarian cancer is already in second place among gynecological neoplasms. It is estimated that each year more than 200,000 women are diagnosed worldwide, and 125,000 deaths are reported annually. Within the framework of the Day Against Ovarian Cancer, which is commemorated every May 8, patient organizations and health institutions called for promoting prevention and timely detection actions.
According to data from the National Institutes of Cancerology (INCan) and Public Health (INSP), ovarian cancer is the seventh most frequent among women worldwide. Warning symptoms include bloating or abdominal or low-lying pain; discomfort when urinating, increased frequency and urgency; constipation and colitis; and abnormal vaginal bleeding. The main diagnostic methods are transvaginal ultrasound, clinical history, blood tests and gynecological examination.
Added to this is that it is a more lethal condition than breast or cervical cancer, which is why it is worrying that 75 percent of the diagnoses of this disease are made in advanced stages, that is, in stages 3 or 4, since which is generally a condition that in its early stages does not generate specific symptoms or that are often confused with other diseases.
The risk factors for developing ovarian cancer are: menstruation began before the age of 12, which increases the number of menstrual cycles in a woman’s life; not having had children; hormone replacement therapy, used to treat the symptoms of menopause; hereditary factors, such as having had a close relative who had breast, ovarian, or colon cancer; obesity and age.
In this regard, recent research highlights that of the main types of ovarian cancer in 95 percent of cases, the disease began in the cells that cover the ovaries, so it is classified as epithelial type, and occurs mainly from the 45 years. It is estimated that about 5 percent of cases occur in young women, and begins in the cells that are inside the ovary and form the ovules, so it is of the germinal type.
