Ovarian Cyst Daily

Pat Isenberg was blindsided by advanced ovarian cancer nearly seven years ago.

“I was in total shock because I had never heard of ovarian cancer before,” said Isenberg, 63, of Louisville, who was diagnosed in May 2003.

Also, “I had been to my gynecologist in the fall. I’d had a complete checkup. I thought (the) Pap smear would check everything. I didn’t even know that it didn’t cover ovarian cancer.”

Cervical cancer can be detected with a Pap smear, and breast cancer can be detected with mammography. But there is no routine screening tool for ovarian cancer, which causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system.

As part of a research study, the University of Kentucky has a statewide ovarian cancer screening program that allows women who meet certain criteria to be checked in Lexington or a satellite location elsewhere in the state.

But for the typical woman, who is not in such a program, ovarian cancer often goes undetected until it has progressed beyond the early stages, and it can be like a needle in a haystack.

“It’s just very hard to find,” said Dr. Daniel Metzinger, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center.

And “once you get the cancer, it progresses rapidly, so we need something that can really detect it early,” he said.

Research is under way at Brown and elsewhere to try to do just that. But in the meantime, raising awareness is important, especially among women who’ve never heard of ovarian cancer or have misconceptions about it. That’s according to Isenberg and other members of Ovarian Awareness of Kentucky (O.A.K.), a support and resource organization for people affected by gynecologic cancers, such as ovarian cancer.

When it comes to knowledge of ovarian cancer, some “people really don’t have a clue,” said Joy Hannah, 69, of Louisville, who’s an O.A.K. member and an ovarian cancer survivor.

Figures from 2001-2005 show ovarian cancer on the decline nationally, according to the American Cancer Society. But it still takes thousands of lives.

Source: Courier Journal