Understanding ovarian cancer
Cancer begins in cells, the building blocks that make up tissues. Tissues make up the organs of the body.
Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place.
Sometimes, this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor.
Tumors can be benign or malignant:
Benign tumors are not cancer:
- ovarian cancer are rarely life-threatening.
- ovarian cancer not invade the tissues around them.
- ovarian cancer can be removed. They usually do not grow back.
- ovarian cancer do not spread to other parts of the body.
Malignant tumors are cancer:
- ovarian cancer are generally more serious than benign tumors. They may be life-threatening.
- ovarian cancer often can be removed. But sometimes they grow back.
- ovarian cancer can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs.
- Cells from ovarian cancer can spread to other parts of the body. Cancer cells spread by breaking away from the original (primary) tumor and entering the lymphatic system or bloodstream. The cells invade other organs and form new tumors that damage these organs. The spread of cancer is called metastasis.
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