Is a yearly pelvic ultrasound sufficient to protect against uterine/ ovarian cancer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL just died from uterine cancer. Her pap smears were negative btw. The best prevention is a hysterectomy. I imagine an ultrasound may pick up nodules/masses. MIL regularly had her CA125 blood level tested after diagnosis. I guess this kind of test might be helpful too.

I came to post this. Why not just get a hysterectomy? I had one because of fibroids, and never having to worry about ovarian, uterine or cervical cancers is great.

Well for one, a hysterectomy removes the uterus. Usually they do not remove the ovaries.

That said, aggressive cancer, isn't just where you cut it out. If it's spread or even a few cells are left behind, it'll get you and fast. Let's say you had scans every year and always clean. Then one year it isn't and the cancer isn't small. Well, in all likelihood that is an aggressive cancer. Cutting it out, treating with chemo you'll still never beat it.

Again, people assume that all cancers are beatable if caught early enough. No one wants to understand that's just not the case.

I think she meant why don't people have preventative hysterectomies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get the yearly pelvic ultrasound. Get your tubes removed. Get hysterectomy if there is an actual problem. You do not understand that hysterectomy is a major surgery that can have serious complications. Ovary removal pre-menopause is also a bad idea if there is no problem with the ovaries. Accept your mortality in general and get a yearly checkup. That’s the best you can do now. You didn’t say what kind of cancer you had. Get a genetic cancer risk panel done. Stop worrying.

This is not helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious why you think ovarian and uterine cancers are “quite common”? That wasn’t my understanding at all, and doing a quick google search says both of these are rare. Do you mean you’re at a higher risk because of the other cancer you had? Not trying to be difficult here, just trying to understand where you’re getting your stats from.

??
Ovarian cancer alone is 5th most common cancer

Not to mention, by the time you have real symptoms for most people you are already stage 3/4. Many doctors write off those symptoms as typical "female issues". Ultrasound yearly is a decent way to find any issues earlier than normal.

Why do you say this? What data do you have that suggests a yearly ultrasound improves outcomes?

Not PP but you do realize ovarian cancer is not a 100% death outcome? How can a yearly ultrasound not improve any chance of catching a mass earlier as compared to no ultrasound ever?

The logical end for this train of thought is that we should all be having full-body scans for every possible malady as frequently as possible. It has been studied, and 1) this way lies madness and 2) it does not improve health outcomes. So regardless of whether you FEEL that it's true, all evidence suggests otherwise.

I don't understand how this is possible. It doesn't improve health outcomes that much across the board? So it's not worth the resources, across the board? Because there are people who have cancer and it's too late when they find it, but had it been found earlier prognosis would have been better. Doesn't it improve health outcomes at times A LOT for those people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious why you think ovarian and uterine cancers are “quite common”? That wasn’t my understanding at all, and doing a quick google search says both of these are rare. Do you mean you’re at a higher risk because of the other cancer you had? Not trying to be difficult here, just trying to understand where you’re getting your stats from.

??
Ovarian cancer alone is 5th most common cancer

Why??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the part of Europe where I’m from, yearly pelvic ultrasounds for women over 40 are recommended/ commonplace. Ultrasounds are a low to no risk scan and can spot cancers early. They are not foolproof - but while uterine and ovarian cancers are not common enough in women under 60 to justify universal screening - they do happen and can be silent and deadly. There’s really no contraindication for having a yearly ultrasound especially if you’ve had ivf, pcos or tamoxifen. I’m surprised at posters who are annoyed at the suggestion.

https://www.acog.org/practice-management/patient-safety-and-quality/partnerships/choosing-wisely

"In population studies, there is only fair evidence that screening of asymptomatic women with serum CA-125 level and/or transvaginal ultrasound can detect ovarian cancer at an earlier stage than it can be detected in the absence of screening. Because of the low prevalence of ovarian cancer and the invasive nature of the interventions required after a positive screening test, the potential harms of screening outweigh the potential benefits"

It is also noted that the majority of positive screenings from ultrasounds are false positives..

PP here. From a public health perspective, maybe.
But if someone told me I had a fair chance of increasing the odds of living should I have a deadly cancer, and that I might have to go through unnecessary harm because of a false positive, **I** would potentially want to make the decision to do that ultrasound.
In fact, as someone who is 47 and has done three rounds of IVF, I think this thread is convincing me more and more.
And yes, health care in this country is messed up, but I still think I have a reponsibility to do thebest for my own health...

[Anonymous]

Is the genetic testing ordered by your doctors, or do you pay for private labs?

[Anonymous]

The problem is not very well explained by any literature but I think it’s that ovarian cancer is a bit like crc in that once it is a cancer it metastasizes very rapidly. With crc and cervical cancer, we have screening tests (colonoscopies and Pap smears) that detect pre cancerous polyps etc. But for ovarian cancer we can only see cancer clearly with ultrasound at the point that it is a full cancer - at which point it has likely metastasized. With crc too, once the polyp has turned into a full blown cancer it can metastasize v quickly. Make sense?

[Anonymous]

But work is being done to improve ultrasound ability in this area

https://source.wustl.edu/2022/11/machine-learning-model-builds-on-imaging-methods-to-better-detect-ovarian-lesions/

[Anonymous]

Symptoms are usually not apparent until ovarian cancer is fairly advanced. I would take the testing if it was offered to me. I have a dear friend that has been struggling with that for a few years now, and I sure wish that they had found her cancer sooner.

[Anonymous]

From what I understand, no. Ovarian runs in my family too. I was told if I ever have a need for a hysterectomy, I should ask them to remove ovaries too-if after menopause.

There is no good screening test. The best things you can is eat very healthy, avoid processed foods and manage stress. Everyone I know who developed ovarian in my family did so after an extremely stressful period with an extremely toxic person (elderly parent/verbally abusive spouse or toxic boss). Take care of yourself, try to enjoy life and protect your peace. I took a lower paying job to get away from a toxic culture and it was such a great decision.