Webinar: What Women Need to Know about Ovarian Cancer

Alex, thank you very much for the reply.<br />

Dear Alex<br />
Thank you for your reply. Are the clinical trials open to non-americans? Im Danish and might be willing to travel:-)<br />
Best rgs<br />
A<br />
<br />
Sendt fra min iPhone <br />
derfor lidt kort 🙂 <br />
bedste hilsner Anne

I have been experiencing severe pelvic/abdominal pain. My u/s and ct showed I have a small mass on my left ovary and one on my uterus (a small cyst in my liver) and my alpha feta protein test was abnormal, CA125 was normal. My doctor says there is nothing to worry about, I see my gyny on the 2nd June. My question is: can a doctor tell by my test results that the mass is benign? I am a 58 yr old female. I took HRT for 7 years stopped 1 year ago. The pain is increasing in severity now extending into my back and the groin area, I have had to stop work and am taking painkillers Tramadol 24/7. Thank you for you help.

There are many potential therapies for recurrent ovarian cancer and the pros/cons should be discussed with your local oncologist. It is difficult to give advice about what treatments to do now or next without having more information about your medical history, tolerability of prior chemo, life goals, physical condition, etc. The best way to answer this question is through a face-to-face consult or electronic consult if your physician is part of the Mayo Clinic Network.

Yes, we currently do not distinguish between the different subtypes of ovarian cancer and use the same general platinum-taxane doublet therapy (for instance cisplatin or carboplatin plus paclitaxel or Taxotere) for all subtypes.

Yes, international patients are eligible to participate. However, I would suggest you consider staying in the US rather than trying to travel back and forth. In addition, you should have complete records submitted with your “new patient registration” with a specific question to the Medical Oncology team to review candidacy for clinical trials prior to making an appointment. This could save you the potential problem of being disqualified based on prior treatments or other criteria.

Please understand : I am the patient who got Avastin, along with and after Frontline treatment,  which is not SOC. I am now in the SOLO2 trial. My mother participated in a trial of carboplatin & olaparib for treatment of recurrence,  including measurement of the pharmacokinetics of their interaction, in an attempt to determine which to administer first. My experiences with my own clinical trials have been positive aside from unexpected costs. However, my experiences with my mother's clinical trial were vastly different and often quite negative.  Part of the problem seemed to be that nobody cared for her as a person, but rather as patient # whatever. But please don't tell patients that clinical trials will be "at no additional cost"; it's just not true. <br />
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What about the PPAACA provision saying that genetic counseling & testing must be covered for high-risk women? <br />
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In a postmenopausal woman, ovarian masses are usually a growth of some sort—could be benign, could be cancer, could be something in between called a borderline tumor. Imaging and tumor markers may not be enough to rule out a cancer as cancers and benign tumors can look the same on imaging. And there is a small proportion of ovarian cancers that have a normal CA125 level. Further evaluation in the setting of an ovarian mass and pain is warranted. If you would like to be evaluated at Mayo Clinic, you may make an appointment by calling: 507-284-4137.

I have cuda equina syndrome for 6 years, due to back surgery. I straight cath 5 x's a day.I have a colostomy. I am in terrible pain, taking high doses of gabapentin. Is there a
doctor that can help me.