Is ovarian cancer hereditary?
A woman can inherit a genetic the risk of ovarian cancer from the maternal or paternal line, especially if one first degree relative (mother, father, brother, sister) has or had ovarian, breast, colon or prostate cancer. Moreover, women with strong family history of ovarian cancer are more likely to develop this type of cancer at younger ages (under 50).

Studies have shown that the inheritance of a defective BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes increases a woman's risk of developing ovarian cancer by 10% to 40%. Normally these genes are designed to prevent the appearance of cancer cells, but if someone inherits these genes as mutated, she becomes more susceptible to developing breast or ovarian cancer.

All women have a lower risk or higher for this condition. The symptoms exist - they are vague and nonspecific at first, but over time they become more obvious. Early detection of ovarian cancer increases the chances of survival.  The Papanicolau test does not detect ovarian cancer.
What are the risk factors for ovarian cancer?



While the presence of one or more risk factors increases the risk of ovarian cancer, does not necessarily mean that the respective person will develop the disease.Risk factors include:

* Genetic predisposition;

* Personal or family history of ovarian cancer, breast or colon;

* Old age;

* Infertility.
What are the diagnostic tests used to detect ovarian cancer? The Papanicolau test does not detect ovarian cancer. The tests used for this purpose are:

A vaginal exam annually for women older than 18 years and rectovaginal exam for people over 35 years.

Abdominal ultrasound: is used as a screening method for this disease. It is non-invasive, painless, inexpensive method through which the tumor may be visualized.

Transvaginal ultrasound is used especially in cases with increased risk of ovarian cancer and in situations where greater accuracy is required in the visualization of the tumor.

Blood tests are used to measure tumor markers (CA 125). These tests are not specific, because there are other diseases besides ovarian cancer which may cause the growth of these markers. Meanwhile some ovarian cancers may not produce enough CA-125  to induce positive value of the test.

If one of these tests is positive , further the investigation will continue with more efficient imaging methods like CT scan or MRI.



What are the treatment options for ovarian cancer?
The treatment for this disease varies from one patient to another depending on the stage of the diagnosed disease, the patient's age and general conditions of his state. Doctors have three therapeutic methods for dealing with ovarian cancer:

Surgery: Surgery for tumor resection is the main method of treatment in ovarian cancer. It also has a very important role because the resected part is sent anatomic-pathological examination to indicate the type of tumor, stage of development and lymphatic metastasis.

Chemotherapy: it bases on using a kind of drugs, which once placed in circulation kills all cancer cells. It is used mostly as auxiliary therapy after surgery.

Radiation therapy: This therapy uses high energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and tumor miscosa.

The disease:
Because of the fact that each woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer has its particularities, it is very hard to make a general prognosis. Ovarian cancer is one of the diseases where early detection is essential for effective treatment. If the disease is diagnosed and treated early, when not exceeded ovary cancer survival rate at 5 years is 90%.