Local doctor, cancer survivor raising money to fund research for ovarian cancer cure

Doctors at Allegheny Health Network are raising money to fund research to find a cure for ovarian cancer.

The American Cancer Society estimates doctors will diagnose about 22,000 new cases of ovarian cancer in the United States this year.

Doctors say that, in a lot of cases, by the time symptoms show up, the cancer is already at stage 3 or stage 4, meaning it has spread.

By the time doctors found Susan Evans' ovarian cancer, it was at stage 3.

"My symptom was a swollen ankle. No one for six months could figure out why I had a swollen ankle," Evans said.

Tests found a blood clot in her leg caused by a 25-pound tumor.   Five years later, Evans is healthy and educating other women about the disease.

"They assume, when they are going to the doctor every year, they are being checked for ovarian cancer, and they aren't.  There is no test," Evans said.

Unlike breast cancer or cervical cancer, there is no easy early detection test for ovarian cancer. The early warning symptoms, which include fatigue and bloating, are easy to ignore.

Doctor Thomas Krivak is the Director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology for the AHN Women and Children Institute.  He warns women about other dangerous signals.

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"Nausea, vomiting, chronic pain, pressure - those types of symptoms.  (If you have) a change in how your bowels are working, a change in how your bladder is working," Krivak said those could be signs.

If ovarian cancer is caught early enough, it has about the same cure rate as other cancers, such as breast cancer.

Women who have a family history of ovarian cancer are more at risk.  So are women who test positive for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation.

Doctors say recent advances in genetic testing have helped women live longer.

"There was a decade where it seemed like we weren't making any progress," Krivak said.  "In the last three to five years, we're made a great deal of progress."

Krivak and Evans have teamed up to start a foundation called the Evans-Krivak Gynecological Cancer Research and Education Fund.

So far, they have raised $145,000 toward research to find a cure.

Evans said she wants to offer other women hope.

"We need to show a positive side to this.  We need to show that there is hope," she said.

Cox Media Group