Premium
Early Identification, Differentiation and Treatment of Ovarian Neoplasia
Author(s) -
Ranney Brooks,
Ahmad M. I.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1002/j.1879-3479.1979.tb00152.x
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , differential diagnosis , stage (stratigraphy) , ovarian tumor , ovarian cancer , gynecology , oncology , radiology , pathology , cancer , paleontology , physics , optics , biology
Among 3205 patients who needed major gynecologic operations, only 250 (7.8%) had significant ovarian cysts or tumors (170 benign, 38 “low malignant potential,” 42 gross cancers). Contrary to prior reports, this study shows that most patients with ovarian neoplasia had had some symptoms (duration ranged from two weeks to ten years), or a palpable adnexal mass or both. Associated symptoms have been itemized in categories. Procrastination by patients, after occurrence of the first symptoms, resulted in the growth of later‐stage cancers and lower survival rates. It may be inferred from age‐incidence graphs that some benign cystadenomas may be present in ovaries for long intervals of time and then may become malignant. The importance of (a) careful recording of histories, (b) periodic pelvic examinations, (c) the use of preoperative methods of differential diagnosis and (d) the differentiation between gross tumor characteristics during operations are discussed. Earlier diagnosis and treatment of ovarian neoplasia are possible and will yield better long‐term results.