Ovarian cancer refers to cancer in the ovaries, which form a key part of the women’s reproductive system. This type of cancer often stays undetected until it spreads into the abdomen and pelvic regions. Once cancer spreads here, treating it becomes a challenge. So, when cancer is detected early, it is possible to have a successful treatment. The most common and main treatments for ovarian cancer are discussed herein.

Main local treatments for ovarian cancer
When treating ovarian cancer, one needs to know about different kinds of treatment options, including localized treatments, systemic treatments with chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and targeted therapy. The main treatments for ovarian cancer locally are surgery and radiation therapy.

• Surgery
  Surgery is looked upon as the best possible solution for treating this condition, but how much of it is right will depend on the extent to which cancer has spread, and overall health conditions. For instance, for women of the childbearing age with tumors that have been detected early, treating the disease is possible since it is at an early stage, and neither ovaries nor the uterus needs to be removed. When one is suffering from epithelial ovarian cancer, they will need to undergo surgery for staging and debulking. When this is not done properly more surgeries may be required later on. This is why one must opt for a qualified surgeon to do this preliminary surgery such as a gynecologist oncologist.

The main goal of this treatment for ovarian cancer, as mentioned above, is to identify the cancer stage, to see how much it has spread already from the ovaries. This typically implies uterus removal through hysterectomy and removal of fallopian tubes and both ovaries. The omentum may also be removed through an omentectomy. When fluid is found in the abdominal cavity or pelvis it is screened and tested in the laboratory. The surgeon may also perform a biopsy of the different parts of the pelvis and abdomen. Here, tissue samples are taken in the course of surgery and then sent to labs to identify cancerous cells. Staging is vital since treatments will vary depending on the particular stage.

The second goal of surgery is debulking or removal of as much tumor as one can. This is important since cancer has spread across the abdomen when surgery is done. This procedure ensures that there are no tumors left behind and no visible cancer cells bigger than 1 cm. Patients who have undergone debulking have a better prognosis than those who still have large tumors left behind after surgery. Some organs may also get affected because of debulking. When one has ovarian germ-cell tumors or stromal tumors, surgery is required for removing the cancer cells. Most germ cell tumors inside the ovary are removed through hysterectomy and BSO or bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. When cancer is restricted to one of the ovaries and the patient wishes to have more children, only that ovary and its fallopian tube are removed. If the cancer cells spread, the doctor may have to remove more tissues. This may call for a BSO or hysterectomy, or even debulking surgery.

• Radiation therapy
  Besides surgery, radiation therapy is used for treating cancer locally by using high-energy X-rays to destroy cancerous cells. These X-rays are administered using a procedure similar to a regular X-ray. Doctors find aggressive chemotherapy to be more effective and this is why radiation is not so much used for treating ovarian cancers. It is best suited for treating the parts where cancer may have spread, like the spinal cord or brain. In external beam radiation, a machine is used that focuses the radiation on only areas affected by the cancerous cells. It is a painless process and the session lasts only for some minutes. This may have side-effects like tiredness, skin changes, diarrhea, vomiting and nausea, and vaginal irritations. Brachytherapy is internal radiation and is another effective way to give radiation beams; but, this is rarely used for ovarian cancer.