Indore: Women should not neglect sudden changes in their body whether it is a small or big, This is what oncologist Dr Rakesh Taran said while addressing awarenss workshop on ovarian cancer here on Tuesday.
He said ovarian cancer is a silent killer as it doesn’t show symptoms in initial stage but damages ovaries that leads to infertility. Ovarian cancer is the third most common cancer among Indian women. According to World Cancer Research Fund, ovarian cancer is the eighth most commonly occurring cancer in women and 18th most commonly occurring cancer worldwide. There were nearly 300,000 new cases of ovarian cancer across the world in 2018.
He also emphasised on rising number of cases - 4.9 cases per 1 lakh as per GLOBOCAN 2012. “Unfortunately, 56% of cases are diagnosed in advanced stages III and IV, which become more difficult to treat. Women at the age of 40-50 are at a high risk,” Dr Taran said.
The risk factors for ovarian cancer are old age, inherited gene mutation, family history of ovarian and breast cancer, beginning of menstruation at an early age or menopause at an olde age.
The disease remains silent at an early stage but some indicative signs are prolonged acidity, loss of appetite, weight loss, bulginess in the stomach, discomfort in pelvic area and frequent urination. Although some risk factors can’t be altered, focus on balanced diet, regular exercise, reproductive hygiene and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of contracting ovarian cancer to a large extent.
