Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
A common question that I am asked in the community and by my patients is what individuals can
do to better their chances from a screening standpoint but more importantly what they
can do to prevent the development of GYN cancers and that is a broad question, but a very,
very good question. Number one, the best screening test from a standpoint of detecting GYN cancers
would be the Pap smear. That truly is the single most effective screening mechanism
for GYN malignancies that we have at this time. Important to note and a common misconception
by women is that a Pap smear is really a screening test for all GYN cancers and a Pap smear is
specific to screening for cervical cancer. It is not a test for screening for ovary cancer
or uterus cancer. The best thing women can do is to have regular visits to the gynecologist
or their general practitioner for Pap smears. The most common GYN cancer in the United States
is uterine or otherwise known as endometrial cancer. The most common presenting sign or
symptom of endometrial cancer is abnormal bleeding whether you are 45 or 65. If you
start having abnormal heavy bleeding or more importantly and more specifically abnormal,
what we call intermenstrual bleeding meaning, that is if you are premenopausal and still
having regular periods, if you start having abnormal bleeding in between those periods,
you need to seek out your medical professional to be ruled out for an endometrial cancer.
Once a woman goes through menopause, the most common sign of endometrial cancer is bleeding
and it does not have to be bleeding like a period, it can be a spot of blood in a woman’s
undergarment, they need to seek a medical professional because something is not right
that is causing that and commonly that is a precursor to endometrial cancer called hyperplasia
or it can be uterine cancer and women do a very good job of catching uterine cancer at
an early stage. Unlike ovary cancer, we can catch most of those at a very early stage
such as stage 1 where the majority cure with surgery alone. At this point in time the best
we can do for ovary cancer is to receive annual physical exams by a trained professional for
pelvic exams, etc., if you have any symptoms whatsoever of abnormalities felt in the pelvis
such as urinary frequency or urgency, constipation, bloating, feeling full quickly, abdominal
distension, those are the signs if you need to seek medical attention and be screened
or ruled out for ovarian cancer and it is usually quite simple meaning that a pelvic
exam but more importantly an ultrasound of the GYN organs helps us a lot tell whether
the ovary is normal or abnormal. Surprising to a lot of patients the pelvic exam is really
not a very good reliable means of ruling out an ovarian mass. If you have symptoms do not
rely on just a pelvic exam as means of being normal ovaries. If you have complaints, certainly
demand or request an ultrasound to evaluate the ovaries because in many, many common circumstances
a physician will do a pelvic exam and believe that the ovaries still normal but on ultrasound
surprisingly there is a cyst or abnormality on the ovaries. Other things that we can do
to help prevent GYN malignancies is know your genetic profile and what I mean by that is
there are certain family syndromes where we see genetic links to cancers. The vast majority
of GYN cancers most commonly ovary and uterus cancer, do not have a genetic link that is
inherited from family member to family member to family member; however, approximally about
10% those cancer are related to a genetic link and so if you come from a family where
you see commonly ovary, breast cancer, or colon cancer on one side of the family that
is affecting many members of that family, certainly seek out questions or expertise
from a GYN oncologist, OB/GYN, and internal medicine doctor and ask to have some screening
tests done to see if you apply to have your genetics evaluated.