Wellness & Beauty: Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

By Julie Young

Each September, glo pays tribute to our magazine’s namesake, Gloria Baumgartner, who lost her fight with ovarian cancer in 2008. Gloria was not only a dear friend, loving wife and mother, but she was also the highly respected business manager and treasurer of The Papers (glo’s parent company) where her husband, Ron, continues to serve as president and publisher.

Although she had been seeing a specialist for GI discomfort, bloating, and all the typical, but vague signs of ovarian cancer, Gloria was not diagnosed with the disease until it was well advanced. Sadly, Gloria’s story is not unique. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 20,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer annually and of those cases, nearly 13,000 will die from the disease. Why such a high mortality rate? Dr. Francis Esguerra, MD, JD, FAOCG, a board-certified OB/GYN with Axia Women’s Health, said it is because the early symptoms are so non-specific, it could indicate several other issues.

“This can include bloating, pelvic pain, abdominal pain, difficulty in eating or feeling full,” he said. “As physicians, it is important to rule all things out, perform pelvic exams, and order work ups as needed. I would also hope that physicians would know not to discount patient complaints.” While the median age of diagnosis is 63, all women are at risk for the 30 types of ovarian cancer, which ranks fifth in female cancer deaths. If diagnosed early, the five-year survival rate is more than 90 percent. However, this only happens 20 percent of the time. When diagnosed in Stage 3 or 4, the five-year survival rate decreases to 28 percent.

“Unfortunately, at this point in our medical knowledge, we don’t have effective screening tools for ovarian cancer,” said Denise Glasser, client advocate at Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana. “There are symptoms to watch out for, and people who have a history of ovarian cancer or other high-risk factors are monitored carefully, but people need to be in touch with their bodies and pay attention to the signs that something might be wrong.” That is why an annual visit to your personal physician or gynecologist are very important along with clinical pelvic exams and pap smears that can uncover any potential masses, cysts, or abnormalities that might show up in a lab report. At that time, women are often screened for any symptoms they may be experiencing that might be indicative of pelvic pathology.

“Other tumor markers can be drawn, but this has not proven effective strategy for ovarian cancer screening,” Esguerra said. “That is what makes early diagnosis of ovarian cancer so difficult.”

Although a lot of women forego their annual pelvic exam and pap smear, Glasser said these diagnostic and preventative tests are as important in menopause as they are during the child-bearing years, and they should not be avoided.

“Above all, remember that a doctor’s appointment is not the time to be a shrinking violet about your concerns. If something isn’t right, if something isn’t resolved, don’t let it go and don’t let your doctor brush you off,” she said. “Your life may depend on it.” a

Resources: Axia Women’s Health, Fort Wayne, 260.458.3440, axiawh.com Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana, Fort Wayne, 260.484.9572, cancer-services.org