Ovarian cancer

For a lay person:

Ovarian cancer starts in the ovaries or the fallopian tubes. It is more common after menopause and in women with BRCA gene changes or a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Its early symptoms, such as bloating and feeling full quickly, are vague, so it is often found late.

For a trained medical person:

Most cases are epithelial carcinomas, especially high-grade serous carcinoma, which often originates in the fallopian tube; germline BRCA testing is recommended. Diagnosis uses CA-125, transvaginal ultrasound and CT, with histological confirmation. Treatment is cytoreductive surgery with platinum-based chemotherapy, followed by maintenance therapy such as PARP inhibitors in selected patients.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Excess Evil Pathogen; Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis; Congealed Phlegm and Damp and Accumulation; Accumulation and Stagnation of Water and Damp; Accumulation and Knotted Damp and Heat; Deficient Zheng Qi; Yin Deficiency with Internal Heat; Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency; Qi Deficiency with Spleen Weakness; Qi and Blood Deficiency; Yin and Yang Deficiency. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: This needs specialist gynaecological oncology care; Chinese medicine is adjunctive at most. See a doctor for bloating, pelvic pain or early fullness on most days for more than a few weeks, and check herbs with your team during chemotherapy or PARP inhibitor treatment.