Like all cancers, there is no permanent and full cure for cancer. After entering the period of remission, there are always risks of going into relapse and battling the few cells that were not affected by therapy. No one method works fully on ovarian cancer and so it requires a combination of varied ways to achieve a successful ovarian cancer treatment. These methods are of three kinds, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Along with medicines, these three can be used during different stages of cancer to produce results.
Close to every patient that suffers from ovarian cancer will undergo surgery during the process of treatment. Depending on which stage the cancer stands, surgery can be either limited to removing as many cells as possible to complete removal of the ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. This is known as a hysterectomy and gives a full chance of recovery with very little risk of relapse due to guaranteed removal of all tumorous tissue in the body. However, if the cancer has spread beyond the ovaries and uterus, then more invasive surgery would be required with a heavy dosage of drugs to ensure that no cells remain in the body. The removal of the womb and the lymph nodes of the body which have been affected by cancer is known as an oophorectomy. It is undertaken when trying to remove as much cancerous tissue from the body as possible. This form of ovarian cancer treatment works best with younger women and middle aged ones since their bodies can take heavy surgery without much trauma.
The next form of ovarian cancer treatment is using chemotherapy. This uses heavy dosage of medicines to shrink the amount of cancerous cells present in the body. After which, surgery can be used to remove the remaining parts of the cancer. However, chemotherapy is known to fully cure the germ cell kind of ovarian cancer, which is quite rare. It affects only 5-10% of the women and is easier to cure. Chemotherapy is an effective form of treatment for the patients with stage II and III cancer. It must be noted that it has many side effects, the more noticeable of which are hair loss, nausea and a constant feeling of fatigue coupled with vomiting. This is a very common treatment for all kind of cancers and is suggested to those who can withstand the treatment as well as cope with the after effects of the dosage. Chemotherapy is taken up as a last resort when a patient enters into relapse with worse symptoms than the previous time.
The next kind of treatment that is used only in the very advanced stages is known as radiation therapy. As an ovarian cancer treatment procedure, it has till not received much popularity or widespread use. Only stage IV patients have radiation therapy, that too in small dosages so as not to cause functioning problems in the body. This literally burns out the cancerous tissue from the body but can be harmful to other kinds of body tissue as well. Thus it is used in moderation and is combined with surgery and a milder chemotherapy routine.