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Staging Of Ovarian Cancer

     Ovarian cancer is a dreaded malignancy whose occurrence can be fatal or might cause an irreparable damage to a woman’s reproductive system. Ovarian cancer is nicknamed as a ‘silent killer’ as it goes undetected until the cancer reaches an advanced stage. Diagnosis of ovarian cancer involves a series of medical procedures and blood tests. Some of the tests used to determine the stage of ovarian cancer include CT scan, barium X-rays and colonoscopy. Depending on the laboratory results, the stage of ovarian cancer is determined.

     Staging a cancer type is important as it determines the treatment method for the malignancy. Staging determines the whether the tumor has invaded any other parts of the body or is benign. Ovarian cancer staging is done through FIGO staging system. Depending on this, ovarian cancer can be divided into four stages.

Stage I: The cancer is located in one or both the ovaries. This stage is further divided into three sub-stages. In the first two sub-stages, no cancer cells or tumors are found on the surface of the ovaries nor are they detected in ascites. The third sub-stage contains tumor on ovarian surface and cancerous cells in peritoneal fluid.

Stage II: Metastasis starts at this stage. Cancerous cells start invading fallopian tubes, uterus and other organs located in the pelvic region. Peritoneal washings indicate the presence of cancerous cells.

Stage III: Cancer cells start invading other tissues and organs located outside the pelvic region. This stage is characterized by peritoneal and lymph node metastases and is again divided into three sub-stages depending on the extent of invasion.

Stage IV: This stage involves distant metastases. Cancer cells now start invading tissues located beyond the abdominal cavity and pelvic region. In this stage, cancer cells may be found inside the liver, lungs, bones and other organs.

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