Doctors urge any woman over the age of 40 to have an annual mammogram. If there is a history of breast cancer in your family, you should have them done even sooner, see your doctor for a recommendation. Ovarian cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women. It is difficult to detect and therefore has a higher mortality rate than cancers that are easier to detect. Ovarian cancer is most common in women between the ages of 50 - 70, although it can occur in women of any age.
Ovarian cancer has no symptoms in the early stages.
It is most often detected when a doctor detects an enlarged ovary during a routine exam. In more advanced stages of ovarian cancer, the woman may experience intestinal problems, a sensation of fullness and abdominal or pelvic pain. As the cancer progresses, it causes fluid to fill up in the abdomen. Often a woman's first clue that something is wrong is her noticing that her waistline is expanding for unknown reasons, her clothes suddenly become too tight in the waist. A woman's chances of having ovarian cancer may increase if she has never had children, if she has had children at an older age, never taken birth control pills, or having a family history of colon, breast, prostate, lung or ovarian cancers.