May 9, 2022

07:05

Gabriella Lira and Marcela Leiros* – From Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Considered a silent disease, ovarian cancer is responsible for 3% of malignancies in women in Brazil, with a projection of 6,650 new cases per year, and May 8 is marked worldwide as a date to raise awareness about the necessary care. On social networks, women diagnosed with the disease use tools to alert other women about the importance of being attentive to their own health.

This is the case of Anne Carrari, 47, who has more than 20,000 followers on Instagram. The student was diagnosed in 2015 in an advanced stage and has been living with metastatic ovarian cancer for seven years. What led her to seek professional help? Persistent abdominal bloating.

“I believe my life mission is to share quality information so that other women don’t have to go through what I went through,” she says. “So I’m here to warn you about signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer, which are usually nonspecific and that’s why it’s so difficult to diagnose. So my tip is: know your body, feel any change for more than three weeks, talk to your gynecologist, investigate, because information is power and ovarian cancer matters.”

In the profile “Ovarian cancer is curable”, Katia Regina also shares the story and the experiences of an ovarian cancer remission process. In her daily life, she shows the moments of celebration, such as the catheter removal and even the date of being one year without chemotherapy.

Silent disease

According to estimates by the National Cancer Institute (Inca), in Brazil, between 2020 and 2022, ovarian cancer will be the third most frequent type of cancer among women, about 16,590 cases, behind only breast cancer (66,280 cases) and colon and rectum cancer (20,470 cases).

In its initial stage, the disease does not manifest specific symptoms. In advanced stages, it can cause pressure, pelvic and/or abdominal pain or swelling, abnormal vaginal bleeding, nausea, indigestion, gas, constipation or diarrhea, and constant tiredness.

The oncological surgeon and volunteer of the Amazon League Against Cancer (Lacc) Manoel Jesus Pinheiro Júnior warns that, because it does not present symptoms in the initial phase, the alteration is usually detected already in the advanced stage, which makes treatment difficult.

“The main weapon against ovarian cancer is early detection, which can occur, for example, during an annual check-up, indicated for women over 40, or earlier, for those who have a family history,” he said.

What is ovarian cancer?

The ovaries are two glands of the female reproductive system responsible for sex hormones and the production and storage of eggs, considered reproductive cells. Also according to Manoel Jesus Júnior, ovarian cancer can occur not only in the ovary, but also in the fallopian tubes, responsible, in the pregnancy process, for transporting the eggs to the ovary.

The main types are: epithelial tumors, germ cell tumors, and stromal tumors. In an intermediate or advanced stage, the alteration may present symptoms such as constipation (constipation), diffuse abdominal pain, digestive problems or discomfort (dyspepsia), increase in the abdominal volume, among others.

*With information from the press office.