Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among women. It is another sad fact that many women do not know they have this cancer until it is in its advanced stages. The reason why women cannot notice that they have this particular cancer is that ovarian cancer signs can be misleading.

They resemble the symptoms of other ailments so much that women simply just disregard the warning signs, thinking that it is just indigestion or some other condition unrelated to cancer. With this cancer, there may actually be no manifestations of early symptoms. It is also important to note that pain may not be among ovarian cancer signs so do not wait for pain to strike you before consulting a healthcare provider.

When cancerous cells form among the tissues of a woman’s ovaries, the condition is called ovarian cancer. A woman will have a better chance of recovering from the disease if the ovarian cancer is diagnosed and treated as early as possible.

Among cancers of the female reproductive tract, ovarian cancer has the highest death rate with two out of every three diagnosed women already in the advanced stages of the disease. It is therefore essential that women know more about ovarian cancer signs and pay special attention to their bodies when these symptoms last more than two to three weeks.

To discuss the early ovarian cancer signs, it is a fact that many women who develop the disease do not exhibit any symptoms or only have mild ones. The symptoms usually become apparent when the cancer is in an advanced stage which is why ovarian cancer is known as a “silent” disease.

Here are some of the early ovarian cancer signs from recent studies to watch out for:

Problems with eating or feeling full quickly.
A change in bladder habits, such as urinary incontinence
Urinary tract infection (UTI)
Bloating
Pelvic or stomach pain

Studies say that these warning signs are more prone to appear in women with ovarian cancer than in the overall population. The women in the studies said these symptoms were incessantly recurrent and were a totally new change for them.

Ovarian cancer signs become more pronounced when the disease has become more widespread in the body. The cancer growing within the ovaries causes the other signs and likely symptoms to become more marked. These possible ovarian cancer signs include:

Abdominal or pelvic discomfort and/or pain (gas, indigestion, pressure, swelling, bloating, or cramps)
Constipation
Weight gain or loss with no known reason
Pain with sex
Back pain
Appetite loss
Feeling of fullness, even after a light meal
Unexplained tiredness
Abnormal bleeding from the vagina (heavy periods or bleeding after menopause)
Frequent or painful urination

The ovarian cancer signs mentioned here are not one hundred percent guaranteed symptoms of the disease. Like mentioned beforehand, other conditions have symptoms that resemble those in the lists above.

What you should do is observe the symptoms if they linger for more than two weeks. Once this happens, approach a reliable healthcare provider immediately so that the trouble can be appropriately diagnosed and later on given proper treatment.

You must realize that when dealing with ovarian cancer, time is of the essence. The earlier you are diagnosed and receive proper treatment, the better the chances are that you will recover from the disease. Ovarian cancer signs can help save your life or someone else’s if you know just what symptoms to look for.