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Women's cancers · free patient guide
Ovarian cancer
Epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer
Gynaecologic oncology clinic
What it is
Ovarian cancer produces symptoms early, but they are non-specific. The pattern that matters is persistence: the same symptoms, most days, for several weeks, in someone who did not have them before.
A significant proportion is linked to inherited variants, which makes genetic testing here relevant to treatment and to the whole family, not just to curiosity.
Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed late because its symptoms, bloating, feeling full, abdominal discomfort, are common and easily attributed to something else.
Warning signs worth acting on
- Persistent bloating or increased abdominal size, most days for three weeks or more
- Feeling full quickly, or loss of appetite
- Persistent pelvic or abdominal pain
- Needing to pass urine more urgently or more often
- Unexplained weight loss
- A family history of ovarian or breast cancer
How it is diagnosed
- Pelvic examination
- Ultrasound of the pelvis and abdomen
- CA-125 blood test, interpreted alongside imaging rather than alone
- CT for staging
- Tissue diagnosis at surgery or by biopsy
Germline and tumour testing, including homologous recombination status, is standard here because it directly informs treatment options and identifies family risk. This is one of the cancers where testing is offered to essentially everyone diagnosed.
Is it inherited?
A meaningful proportion of ovarian cancer is hereditary. Finding a variant changes your treatment options and gives your relatives the chance to be screened or to take preventive steps.
Genetic counselling & family risk →
Prevention & early detection
There is no reliable population screening. Knowing your family history, and acting on it through counselling, is the most useful step available.
Treatment options
What may form part of a plan
Which of these apply to you depends on your stage, your pathology, your other health and what you want from treatment. That decision belongs at a tumour board, not on a website.
Surgery
Operability assessment and planning here; the operation at the appropriate partner centre.
Chemotherapy
Drug treatment that acts on rapidly dividing cells throughout the body.
Targeted therapy
Medicines matched to a specific alteration found in your tumour.
Clinical trials
Most Indian patients never learn a trial exists, because nobody is looking.
Conservative management & active surveillance
Sometimes the right decision is to watch carefully and treat nothing yet.
At KPCIRC
The pathway for this disease
- Genetic counselling and germline testing offered at diagnosis, not years later
- Cascade testing for relatives, tracked with a named owner
- Fertility discussion where relevant, before treatment starts
- Nutrition and bowel management, which are often the practical difficulties
- Menopause management after surgery
Support that matters most here
Research we are doing on this
Take this with you
Questions to ask your own doctor
These work wherever you are treated. Print the page or take a photograph of this list.
- Has germline testing been arranged, and when will I get the result?
- Who will operate, and how much experience do they have with this?
- Should my sisters and daughters be tested?
- What does the CA-125 number actually mean in my case?
This page is not an emergency service. Severe breathlessness, chest pain, uncontrolled bleeding, a high fever during chemotherapy, or a sudden change in alertness means going to your nearest emergency department now, not reading further.