Named after the part of the body where the cancer
first starts, ovarian cancer starts in a woman's
ovaries. Women have two ovaries, one on each
side of the pelvis, that produce eggs. They are
also
the main source of the female hormones estrogen
and progesterone.
Many types of tumors can start in the ovaries. Some
are benign and never spread beyond the ovary. Women
with these types of tumors can be successfully treated
by removing one ovary, or the part of the ovary that
has the tumor. Other types of tumors are malignant
and
can spread to other parts of the body. Their treatment
is complex.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer (other
than skin cancer) in women. It ranks fourth as the
cause of cancer death in women, but the number of
new cases of ovarian cancer has been going down since
1991.
Source: American Cancer Society
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