A second opinion at Roswell Park led to an immunotherapy clinical trial that gave ovarian cancer patient Julia Falleti more time with her family.
Ovarian Cancer
What matters most in terms of whether ovarian cancer will recur is the stage of disease at the time of diagnosis and if all visible cancer was removed at the time of surgery.
Dr. Clinton willingly traveled from Ohio to Buffalo every month, and sometimes more often, because the clinical trial “was the most advanced immunological treatment for my genetic type of cancer.
One of the biggest challenges in treating ovarian cancer is the fact that most women are not diagnosed until the cancer has already advanced and five-year survival is around 30%. By contrast, early-stage disease is highly treatable, with a survival rate of 90%.
I have never met them, nor have I ever thanked them for their part in my survival. And yet so much of that day and my treatment in the following months depended on their expertise.
Ovarian cancer is the second most common type of gynecological cancer, but it is also the most lethal because it is usually detected at later stages when it is more difficult to treat, which is why early detection is so important.
Not necessarily. Elevated CA-125 (a protein in the blood that’s associated with ovarian cancer) is most often caused by common, ordinary or benign conditions such as uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, endometriosis — or even just having your period.
We asked some of Roswell Park’s doctors who specialize in cancers that affect women to share some tips for preventing or treating cancer. Here’s what they offered.
I tried to ignore the pain and the feeling of being “off.” But one day, after struggling through a few minutes of yet another bad run, I stopped in mid-stride, pulled out my phone, and called my doctor.
By studying similarities in high-risk individuals and tracing connections between their blood relatives, researchers are helping solve the mysteries of a disease that is usually diagnosed in the late stages, when it is harder to treat.
One reason this finding is so exciting is that we can now focus on the X chromosome to find the gene mutations that put women at higher risk of ovarian cancer and men at higher risk of testicular cancer.
The average woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer at some point in her life is relatively small (1.4%), but some women are at higher risk than others.