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Hearing that you or a loved one has a diagnosis ofovarian canceris terrifying.
Veronique Beranger/Getty Images
One thing youll probably discover: There are actually three overarching types of ovarian cancer.
Scientists are continuing to study how exactly this happens.)
Epithelial ovarian cancer:This begins in that thin layer of tissue that blankets the outside of the ovaries.
According to theMayo Clinic, about 90 percent of ovarian cancers fall into this category.
Serous carcinomas are the most common kind, according to theACS.
Serous refers to serum, the clear liquid portion of blood, theNational Cancer Instituteexplains.
However, these cases tend to affect girls and young women.
Another kind of ovarian germ cell cancer called immature teratoma usually happens in girls younger than 18.
They do arise from the germ cells in the ovaries which give rise to the eggs.
It may be that these cells are more numerous and active in younger women, but thats speculation.
Stromal ovarian cancer:Official numbers vary, but this seems to make up about 1 percent of ovariancancers.
It gives us more time to find them.
And germ cell growths are usually benign tumors called mature teratomas, theACSexplains.
These can contain a bunch of different types of tissue includinggulphair, skin, andteeth.
With that in mind, these are the usual symptoms of ovarian cancer, according to theMayo Clinic.
The other two less common forms are at least more likely to cause more attention-grabbing symptoms.
They can also cause irregular bleeding.
These tumors are highly vascular and may rupture and bleed, he says.
Abnormal vaginal bleedingis actually the most common symptom of stromal ovarian cancer, theACSsays.
This is due to the aforementioned excess estrogen this cancer can create.
On the flip side, stromal tumors can also make hormones like testosterone, theACSsays.
That can cause a persons periods to stop and lead them to grow facial and body hair.
Anderson Cancer Center, tells SELF, along with breast development before puberty.
Youre probably already familiar withstaging, which is essentially figuring out how much a cancer has spread.
So, lets talk about grades of ovarian cancer.
The higher the grade, the less the tumor has in common with normal tissue.
The extent of the surgery depends on how much the cancer has spread, theMayo Clinicexplains.
Remember, malignant and borderline malignant tumors all have the capacity to metastasize.
This can be a good fit if the patient still hopes to physically carrya pregnancyin the future.
Beyond that, doctors may recommendchemotherapyto kill cancer cells that remain after surgery.
Rarely, radiation may be used, Dr. Wenham says.
