Yes, it’s still possible to develop ovarian cancer if you had a partial hysterectomy. For total hysterectomies, ovarian cancer is unlikely, but you still have a small risk of a similar cancer known as peritoneal cancer. It’s rare though!

The peritoneal is the lining of the inside wall of the abdomen. It also covers the uterus, bladder and rectum. According to UCSF Medical Center, the symptoms for peritoneal cancer are also very similar to those for ovarian cancer: abdominal discomfort and pain, feeling full even after a light meal, weight gain or loss with no explanation, and abnormal bleeding.

I came across this topic about the possibilities of ovarian cancer after hysterectomy while reading a recent Q&A at Mayo Clinic, a source used for this post.

If you have questions about your risk and whether Pap tests or other tests should be continued after a hysterectomy, it’s best to discuss your individual case with your doctor.

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University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center researchers have identified tissue type transglutaminase (TG2) as potential therapeutic target in chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer.

“….found overexpression of tissue type transglutaminase (TG2) in ovarian cancer is associated with increased tumor cell growth and adhesion, resistance to chemotherapy and lower overall survival rates.

When researchers targeted and silenced TG2 in animal models, cancer progression was reversed, suggesting the protein may also provide a novel therapeutic approach for late-stage ovarian cancer.”

Reported findings appear in the July 15th issue of Cancer Research.

Read more from UT MD Anderson Cancer Center.

A blood test that has enough sensitivity and specificity to detect early stage ovarian cancer (cancer of the ovary) with 99 percent accuracy has been developed by Yale School of Medicine researchers.

According to Gil Mor, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale:

“The ability to recognize almost 100 percent of new tumors will have a major impact on the high death rates of this cancer. We hope this test will become the standard of care for women having routine examinations.

Epithelial ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecologic cancer deaths in the United States and three times more lethal than breast cancer. It is usually not diagnosed until its advanced stages and has come to be known as the “silent killer.”

Ovarian cancer is deadly, folks. It is one of those that a woman at risk should be tested as early as possible — if tests are readily available.

Find more details from Yale University.

Last week, came out interesting new findings on ovarian cancer.

New developments revealed that cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption do not have an effect on ovarian cancer risk.

However, caffeine intake may lower the risk of developing ovarian cancer, particularly in women not using hormones.

Such were the findings published in the March 1, 2008 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

There was no association between current or past smoking and ovarian cancer risk, however smoking status, duration, and pack-years were significantly associated with risk of mucinous tumors, a rare form of ovarian cancer. The authors also found no association between alcohol consumption and ovarian cancer risk.

However they observed an inverse trend of risk with total caffeine and caffeinated coffee intake, but no association with decaffeinated coffee. The potential reduction in risk with higher caffeine intake appeared to be strongest for women who had never used oral contraceptives or postmenopausal hormones.

The authors concluded that “reducing alcohol intake and cessation of smoking is not likely to have a substantial impact on risk of ovarian cancer.”

They add that “the possibility that caffeine may reduce ovarian cancer risk, particularly for women who have not previously used exogenous hormones, is intriguing and warrants further study, including an evaluation of possible biological mechanisms.”

The above study was conducted by Dr. Shelley S. Tworoger of Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues.

Find more details from Science Daily.

Frequent consumption of foods containing the flavonoid kaempferol, including nonherbal tea and broccoli and consumption of large amounts of the flavonoid luteolin, which is found in foods such as carrots, peppers, and cabbage – have been found associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer.

Such were the findings of a new research from the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).

According to first author Margaret Gates, a research fellow at BWH and at the Harvard School of Public Health:

“This is good news because there are few lifestyle factors known to reduce a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer. Although additional research is needed, these findings suggest that consuming a diet rich in flavonoids may be protective.

In this population of women, consumption of nonherbal tea and broccoli provided the best defense against ovarian cancer.

Other flavonoid-rich foods, such as onions, beans, and kale, may also decrease ovarian cancer risk, but the number of women who frequently consumed these foods was not large enough to clearly evaluate these associations. More research is needed.”

Findings appear in the Nov. 15, 2007, issue of the International Journal of Cancer.

[Source]

Bevacizumab is a biologic anti-cancer agent that prevents tumor growth by interfering with the formation of new blood vessels.

Now, a new study found that bevacizumab may have the potential to improve the efficacy of standard combination chemotherapy in ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer or cancer of the ovary is the fifth most common cancer in women and I reckon one of the deadliest.

Almost 70% of ovarian cancer patients fail to win against the disease despite chemotherapy.

According to Dr. Bram Goldstein, co-author of the study, whose findings are published in Vol. 17 Issue 4 of International Journal of Gynecological Cancer:

“The results from our research suggest that the combination of Bevacizumab and standard therapy for the treatment of ovarian cancer may be promising, particularly with regard to safety and efficacy.”

Bevacizumab is commercially sold as Avastin® - a product of Genentech.

More details from Science Daily.

I hate Mondays. And then heavy rain just stopped, it was wet the whole weekend. It is school day and our “school bus” for some mechanical reason didn’t show up today, so we had to commute to school.

While I catch my breath, let me share first the following cancer fodder:

Blood test to screen for lung cancer

I beat breast cancer 3 times

Cycling legend Lance Armstrong takes cancer fundraiser to Vancouver

Does a chemical formed in cooking french fries really cause cancer?

Spinach can reduce ovarian cancer risks

Chemotherapy platinum drugs including cisplatin and paraplatin are mainstay treatment for ovarian cancer. But ovarian cancer cells often fall resistant to platinum therapy which pose a problem to the treatment that even increasing the dosage is of no good because it will cause unwanted side-effects such as nerve damage and kidney failure.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ovarian cancer is the seventh most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States.

Now, cell culture studies of human ovarian cancer cells that are resistant to platinum drugs have been found to become 6 times more sensitized to the drugs after exposure to the cranberry compounds obtained from juice extracts.

Paraplatin killed 6 times more cancer cells that were pre-treated with juice extract compared to cells that were exposed to the cancer drug alone.

The extract also slowed the growth and spread of some cancer cells.

The maximum amount of juice extract given to the cells was the human equivalent of about a cup of cranberry juice.

However, the researchers warned that this study is experimental and that patients with ovarian cancer should always consult with their physicians before trying any type of anti-cancer therapy.

Find more details from Science Daily.

Previous findings have linked the menopause treatment of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) to breast cancer.

Now, a new British study associates HRT to increased risk of ovarian cancer: women on HRT for more than five years are more than 20 per cent more likely to develop ovarian cancer.

But some experts think that the finding is an overstatement:

“If women take hormone therapy for more than five years there’s a risk of one per 2,500 women that they’ll get ovarian cancer so what that means is the risk is in fact very low,” said obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Rod Baber.

While women are not generally advised to get off HRT just because of this finding, the current advice for women using HRT is to take it for the shortest possible time at the lowest possible dose.

The study’s findings have been published in The Lancet.

Read the full report.

Stem cell and cancer scientists at the University of British Columbia have discovered new non-toxic and targeted therapies for metastatic breast and ovarian cancers.

[Metastatic cancer is invasive cancer that spreads from the original site to other sites in the body.]

Previously shown to be a predictor of metastatic breast cancer, the protein called podocalyxin has now been found to be able to change the shape and adhesive quality of tumour cells, thereby affecting their ability to grow and metastasize (or spread to other parts of the body).

According to Calvin Roskelley, an associate professor of cellular and physiological science who specializes in breast cancer and is co-senior principal investigator:

“We believe we’ve found a new important culprit in metastatic breast cancer, which opens up an entirely new avenue of cancer research.

The culprit is hiding in plain sight on the surface of tumour cells, so we are now developing “smart” molecules to block its function.

The ultimate goal is to generate new targeted, non-toxic treatments — very different from the standard ’slash and burn’ chemotherapy.”

The complete findings recently appeared online in the Public Library of Science (PLos).

Find more details from the full report.