Was Your Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosed?

As many as 30,000 U.S. women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year. Ovarian cancer is the 5th leading cause of death among women, and it is responsible for about five percent of all cancer deaths. Three-quarters of British doctors surveyed incorrectly assumed that symptoms only occurred in the late stages of ovarian cancer. According to their study of nearly 2,000 women with ovarian cancer, the researchers discovered physicians:

1. First ordered abdominal imaging or performed gastrointestinal procedures instead of the more appropriate pelvic imaging and/or CA-125 (a blood test that can detect ovarian cancer).
2. Only 25 percent of patients, who reported ovarian cancer symptoms four or more months before diagnosis, were given pelvic imaging or had CA-125 blood tests.Patients with early symptoms are frequently misdiagnosed. Abdominal imaging or diagnostic gastrointestinal studies are less likely to detect ovarian cancer. According to the American Cancer Society's website, "The most common symptom is back pain, followed by fatigue, bloating, constipation, abdominal pain and urinary urgency. Most women with ovarian cancer have at least two of these symptoms."By the time a woman reaches the fourth stage of ovarian cancer, her first-line treatment is often Carboplatin, Paclitaxel and Cisplatin as the specific chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. In the first stage, cancer is contained inside one or both ovaries. By stage two, the cancer has spread into the fallopian tubes or other pelvic tissues, such as the bladder or rectum. The fourth and final stage of ovarian cancer is reached when the cancer has spread into other body organs, such as the liver or lungs.If detected early, survival rates can be as high as 90 percent. Detected in the advanced stage, the survival rate falls to between 30 and 40 percent. Various imaging tests such as computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and ultrasound studies can confirm whether a pelvic mass is present. A biopsy, or tissue sampling, would confirm if there is cancer in your pelvic region, and would help determine how advanced it is. An elevated CA-125 blood test typically suggests the cancer has progressed to the advanced stage.About 50 percent of ovarian cancer patients are already at an advanced stage by the time a correct diagnosis is made. Only 10 to 14 percent of women with advanced cancer are likely to survive more than five years.

Evaluation of Therapies
In the first stage, a woman faces surgical removal of the tumor, and possibly one or both ovaries, to increase her chances of survival. Beyond that, her choice is chemotherapy.One major problem with chemotherapy is the side effects. The more advanced the cancer, the weaker one may be, reducing the survival rate potential. Chemotherapy can increase survival time by as much as 50 percent. The side effects and increased toxicity, accompanying chemotherapy, reduce how one spends the prolonged survival time.More serious side effects may include mouth blistering or fatigue. Some alarming side effects could include unusual bleeding or bruising, dizziness, shortness of breath, severe exhaustion, chest pain, or difficulty swallowing. Carboplatin has its own list of side effects. On March 10th, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was skeptical of the benefits Eli Lilly's Gemzar, which was being used with Carboplatin to treat ovarian cancer patients. One novel approach, now in Phase III trials at more than 60 research centers across the United States, is OvaRex ® MAb, a murine monoclonal antibody, a type of biotech drug derived from mouse cells. OvaRex was developed in Canada by a company called ViRexx Medical Corp, and first tested in that country. Dr. Tyrrell explained the procedure, "After being injected intravenously, OvaRex binds to an antigen circulating in the blood." An antibody's general purpose is to neutralize an antigen. After an OvaRex injection, the murine monoclonal antibody binds to the CA-125 antigen.When the OvaRex antibody is bound to the CA-125 antigen, the new combination is identified as a harmful unit. Before then, the antigen wanders through the body, without alerting the body's defense systems, the dendritic cells, to attack and destroy the harmful antigen. Until then, the dendritic cells "tolerate" the cancerous cells. The tolerance is what permits the cancer to spread throughout the body.
OvaRex seeks to break that tolerance. The dendritic cells refuse to tolerate the foreign protein. When the antibody binds with the free-floating antigen, the dendritic cells recognize the complex (antibody plus antigen) as being foreign and engulf the new unit. The dendritic cells break down the key proteins of this unit, presenting all parts on the cells surface. At the point, the body's killer T-Cells are alerted to fight the internal threat to the body. Once activated, the T-Cells will replicate and create more killer T-Cells. Any tumor cells expressing the CA-125 antigen is targeted for destruction. The army of T-Cells move to attack the ovarian cancer tumor.The principle behind OvaRex is to re-program the immune system to harness the body's defenses to prevent the growth and spread of the ovarian cancer. Will it cure ovarian cancer?

Source by ezinearticles.com