OVARIAN CANCER
Ovarian cancer is difficult to diagnose in its early stages. By the
time ovarian cancer is symptomatic and a diagnosis is made, the disease
is likely to have developed beyond a point where effective treatments
exist. Key facts on ovarian cancer include:
- Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecologic cancer deaths
- Women have a 1 in 70 lifetime risk of contracting ovarian cancer
- The prevalance of ovarian cancer is 30-50 in 100,000
1994 National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement on Ovarian Cancer states:
"There is no evidence available yet that the current screening
modalities of CA-125 and transvaginal ultrasonography can be
effectively used for widespread screening to reduce mortality from
ovarian cancer nor that their use willresult in decreased rather than
increased morbidity and mortality."
Risk Factors for Ovarian Cancer include:
- Advancing age
- Nulliparity (never had children)
- North American or Northern European descent
- A personal history of endometrial, colon or breast cancer
- A family history of ovarian cancer
- The role of fertility drugs in not clear
Because of the problems associated with the early diagnosis
of ovarian cancer, and because the prognosis for survival is guarded
once the diagnosis is made, medical-legal investigations rarely find a
basis for viable medical malpractice claims. <back
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© 1999 CHARFOOS & CHRISTENSEN, P.C. Updated: January, 2011
