Every year there are more and more cancer patients. This misfortune does not spare anyone. Scientists and doctors are still trying to figure out the causes of cancer and find effective treatments. Unfortunately, at the first stages of the development of the disease, it is asymptomatic. Many patients, when they come to doctors with complaints, find that they have an extreme degree of illness, which is too late to fight. Therefore, mortality due to cancer is high. Nevertheless, scientists managed to get closer to solving the problem. Many types of cancer can be detected in the early stages, just visiting doctors on time and donating blood for tests. Special laboratory methods make it possible to isolate “beacons” -comarkers from human blood that signal a problem. This allows you to detect the disease in the early stages, which will increase several times the chances of recovery.
Today, one of the most dangerous female tumors is ovarian cancer. Mortality from it is the highest among other malignant formations of the female genital organs. Do not panic. After all, it is possible to determine the onset of the disease at the first stages of its development and minimize dangerous risks. A special blood test for the presence of the HE4 tumor marker will save you from danger.
Causes of Ovarian Cancer
It is not yet possible to name the exact causes contributing to the appearance of an ovarian tumor in women. There are a number of factors that provoke the development of a tumor:
- Changes in the hormonal background. Most often, hormonal imbalance occurs in women during menopause. During this period, the amount of female sex hormones in the body increases. As a result, this contributes to the occurrence of cancerous tumors, including on the ovaries. Hormonal jumps can also occur in girls and young women. Therefore, people with an irregular menstrual cycle need to pay special attention to health.
- Bad habits. Every sane person knows that smoking, alcohol, junk food - helpers of various kinds of diseases. No exception and ovarian cancer. For example, women who abuse products that contain trans fats, carcinogens, dyes, and other harmful supplements run the risk of being seen by an oncologist.
- Constant change of sexual partners, abortion. If you change men like gloves without worrying about your health, then getting infected with sexually transmitted infections is simple. In the future, this will lead to a decrease in local immunity and, as a consequence, the occurrence of malignant neoplasms. An unwanted pregnancy can result from promiscuous sexual intercourse. Many women, not seeing another way, have an abortion. This surgical intervention is a huge stress for the female body, which changes the hormonal background. The result is infertility, cancer.
- Ovarian surgery that promotes the formation of atypical organ epithelial cells.
- Genetics. Scientists have proven cases where the presence of certain genes in the DNA chain contributes to the appearance of malignant tumors in humans.
- An ovarian tumor in women sometimes develops as a result of another cancer.
Signs of the disease
In the early stages, it is almost impossible to determine the development of ovarian cancer. Symptoms appear when the disease deeply affects the organ. The main signs of ovarian cancer in women:
- menstrual irregularities;
- frequent urination;
- pressing sensations in the lower abdomen;
- aching pain in the ovary area;
- problems with bowel movements;
- discomfort, pain during intercourse.
These manifestations of the disease cannot be classified as specific for ovarian cancer. Therefore, in order to avoid a tragedy, a mandatory visit to a gynecologist is necessary.
Diagnostics
A routine examination on a gynecological chair will allow you to determine changes in the structure of the ovaries. To confirm the initial diagnosis, the patient is sent to do a number of instrumental studies:
- genital ultrasound;
- tissue biopsy to determine the cancer structure;
- MRI - a method by which the localization and boundaries of the neoplasm are visible in detail;
- X-ray and contrast solution will also allow you to see the location of the tumor.
Also, for the diagnosis of ovarian cancer, patients are referred for a special blood test, where the presence of tumor markers is detected. By their concentration, the presence of the disease is judged. To determine ovarian cancer, blood is donated to identify two tumor markers - CA125 and HE4. The last type of marker began to be determined recently, but it most accurately indicates the development of the disease.
What is HE4?
Oncomarkers are specific substances that the body begins to secrete when a particular organ is damaged by a tumor. Markers can also be produced normally in a healthy person, but by increasing their concentration, experts detect cancer and monitor its course.
HE4 is a cancer marker of ovarian cancer in women, produced in small quantities in a healthy body to maintain physiological functions. If the ovarian epithelium is affected by cancer, the concentration of a specific protein rises.
Previously, the CA-125 marker, which was determined by a specific blood test, was used to confirm the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. But this method was not reliable, since the concentration of this marker could increase with non-cancer diseases or with tumors of other organs. An increase in serum CA-125 can be at the 3rd or 4th stage of the disease. At the initial stages, it is almost impossible to determine the disease using this marker. Most often, the level of the “beacon” rises when the clinical signs of ovarian cancer in women are manifested.
HE4 has greater specificity (95%) and sensitivity (76%) compared to CA-125. Studies have been conducted that have shown that in women with an increased concentration of the HE4 marker in the blood, CA-125 remains normal. Therefore, to determine ovarian cancer at an early stage, it is better to use a method that determines HE4.
In order for the results to have a higher percentage of accuracy, experts immediately determine two tumor markers (CA-125 and HE4). Then a special mathematical algorithm is used, which is more likely to talk about the development of cancer processes in the ovaries. The specificity and sensitivity of this method increases significantly (up to 96%).
Oncomarker HE4: the norm in women
It is unacceptable to make a diagnosis, focusing only on the result of the analysis determining HE4. For diagnostics, only an integrated approach is used: examination, instrumental methods of determination and a test for tumor markers. When conducting an analysis to determine a marker of ovarian cancer, it is mandatory to indicate whether a woman has menopause or not, since the range of values in women in menopause is higher.
In women, before menopause, the HE4 should be less than 70 pmol / ml.
In menopausal women, the HE4 level is normal with indications up to 140 pmol / ml.
Oncomarker HE4: transcript
Let's figure it out. If the HE4 tumor marker is elevated, then this indicates the occurrence of epithelial ovarian cancer. Immediately, we note that with other types of ovarian cancer (for example, mucinous), the amount of HE4 in the blood serum does not increase.
A high concentration of HE4 does not always indicate ovarian cancer. Sometimes the level of this marker increases with renal failure, lung cancer, endometrium, and kidney fibrosis.
Proper preparation for analysis also affects blood marker levels.
Analysis preparation
To determine the HE4 tumor marker, blood is taken from an empty stomach vein. Therefore, before taking the test, 12 hours before the procedure, you can not eat fatty foods, alcohol, sweets, smoked meats, you can not smoke. On the day of analysis, you can drink only water in small quantities.
Conclusion
Only a doctor can make a correct diagnosis, relying on data from several types of diagnostics. To avoid health problems, make a habit of having a medical examination once a year. After all, to know that you are healthy is priceless.