A very large number of various tumors can develop in the ovaries of women. Most often, an ovarian tumor is benign. Such neoplasms are delimited from the surrounding tissues, they do not grow deeper, and are also not capable of forming metastases (the formation of a daughter tumor outside the affected organ). Benign tumors respond very well to treatment. Surgical intervention can remove the ovary or part of it, and that’s enough. Another thing is an ovarian tumor, which is malignant. The treatment of such tumors requires a very large volume of treatment, including both surgical methods and chemotherapy.
Tumor classification
Any tumor has its own specific name, which it receives depending on the cells from which they sprout. In addition to cells, a character is also noted: benign or malignant ovarian tumors . In total, three types of different tumors are distinguished:
- epithelial, which originate from cells lining the outer wall of the ovary (epithelial tumors are the most common);
- stromal - tumors arising from structural cells that are responsible for the secretion of female sex hormones (estrogen and progesterone);
- germinogenic - such tumors originate from embryonic (stem cells), from which all ovarian cells develop.
Epithelial tumors, for the most part, are benign. They are not able to metastasize and do not pose a particular threat to the life of a woman. There are several types of benign tumors, which include:
- mucinous cystadenoma;
- serous cystadenoma
- and Brenner's tumors.
There are also tumors that are slightly different from malignant neoplasms. Such cells are called borderline tumors and have a low potential for malignancy. Such cells differ from typical cancer in the fact that they do not grow into the stromal structures of the organ. Often, such tumors are not life threatening, although in some cases they can cause death. There is an ovarian tumor with a low malignant potential, mainly in young women.
Ovarian tumor: symptoms
Diagnosis of ovarian tumors is complicated by the fact that the symptoms that occur with the development of the disease are very rarely taken seriously by women. Initially, benign and malignant tumors occur without any visible changes. A little later, there are pulling pains in the lower abdomen, which are perceived by many women as inflammation of the ovaries and, not turning to the gynecologist, they begin to carry out independent treatment. Usually this only aggravates the situation, because the tumor grows, and it becomes only more difficult to treat it. Even later, a slight increase in the abdomen occurs. In cases when a malignant tumor occurs in the ovaries, those that are difficult to associate with the ovaries are added to the above symptoms. These include: a feeling of general malaise, nausea, headache, loss of appetite and a sharp decrease in weight, loss of mood and a significant decrease in performance.
Ovarian tumor: diagnosis and treatment
The basis for the diagnosis of ovarian tumors is a regular visit to the gynecologist, as well as a detailed story about what changes in overall health have occurred recently. Do not be silent even about the seemingly most minor symptoms, whether it be mild pain in the lower abdomen or a feeling of heaviness. Such an approach will make it possible to identify a tumor in the early stages and the treatment of even malignant neoplasms will become many times easier, because it is ten times easier to treat cancer of the first degree than the fourth.