Frequency of Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer in Women Presenting to Primary Care Clinics

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Abstract
Ovarian cancer has often been called the "silent killer" because symptoms are not thought to develop until advanced stages when chance of cure is poor. In fact, textbooks in internal medicine, family practice, and even gynecology state that symptoms do not occur until the disease is advanced.1-4 However, several retrospective studies have indicated that the majority of patients do have symptoms, although not necessarily gynecologic in nature.5-9 These studies have been criticized because of small numbers of patients included and the retrospective chart analyses used for data collection.