Ovarian Cancer Treatments: Surgical Considerations
September 06, 2021 – What Is Baby Powder Ovarian Cancer? An ever-growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the use of talcum powder for feminine hygiene can significantly increase a woman’s chances of developing ovarian cancer. The longer a woman uses talcum powder in the genital region, the more likely she is to develop ovarian cancer. While about one in every 75 women will develop ovarian cancer in her lifetime, unlike breast cancer there is no type of early screening for ovarian cancer, meaning it is rarely diagnosed early. Overall, women who have used talcum powder for a significant length of time are about 30 percent more likely to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Women diagnosed with baby powder ovarian cancer may have many questions regarding their treatment.
How Do Doctors Determine What to Remove in Ovarian Cancer Patients? Surgery is the primary treatment for the majority of ovarian cancers. The extent of your surgery will depend on how far your cancer has spread, and your overall level of health. If you are a woman of childbearing age, your talcum powder ovarian cancer is in the earliest stages, and you have specific types of tumors, you could be able to have your ovarian cancer treated without removing your ovaries and uterus. If you are past your childbearing years, it is more likely your ovaries and uterus would be removed. The goal of initial surgery following a diagnosis of ovarian cancer is to remove all visible ovarian cancer. Surgery for ovarian cancer may include:
- A hysterectomy to remove the uterus
- A salpingo-oophorectomy, to remove fallopian tubes and ovaries
- Taking a sample of peritoneal fluid from the abdominal cavity to look for cancerous cells
- Checking and/or removing aortic lymph nodes to check for cancer spread
- Checking and/or removing fatty tissues attached to abdominal organs to check for cancer spread
Are Ovaries Sometimes Left for Hormonal Reasons?
As noted, in women of childbearing age who want to bear children, the ovaries might be left if the cancer is not aggressive and has not spread. The flip side of this is that by removing ovaries, a woman’s hormones (estrogen and progesterone) will be greatly reduced, thus slowing or halting the growth of both ovarian cancer and breast cancers that need these hormones to grow. A prophylactic oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) is sometimes done in women with the inherited mutation of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene or in women with a strong family history of ovarian and/or breast cancer.
Are There Standard vs. Non-Standard Ovarian Cancer Removal Surgeries? The “standard” ovarian cancer treatment starts with debulking (removing as much as the tumor as possible) surgery and is followed by six rounds of chemotherapy. Despite evidence showing this is the most effective type of treatment for ovarian cancer, only about 37 percent of all women diagnosed with ovarian cancer receive this “standard” treatment. Some surgeons will excise or biopsy any suspicious peritoneal areas and sample lymph nodes, although the significance of sampling lymph nodes is highly debated, and there is no strong evidence that systematic nodal dissection improves survival rates.
What is Debulking Surgery? Debulking surgery for ovarian cancer simply means removing as much as the tumor as possible, leaving behind no visible cancer and no tumors larger than one-half an inch. Women diagnosed with ovarian cancer who are optimally debulked have a much better outlook than those who are sub-optimally debulked (left with tumors larger than ½”) Other organs in the body could be affected by debulking as well and could require removal of a piece of: colon, the small intestine, pancreas, bladder, spleen, stomach, liver, or gallbladder.
Could Filing a Talcum Powder Ovarian Cancer Lawsuit Help You? If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer after using talcum powder in the perineal region for a significant length of time, it is important that you contact a talcum powder ovarian cancer attorney who can discuss your options regarding a baby powder ovarian cancer lawsuit. You may be entitled to medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering damages, and more. Contact a baby powder ovarian cancer lawyer today.
