Symptoms & Risk Factors

Signs and Symptoms include:

• abdominal swelling and/or pain
• bloating and/or a feeling of fullness
• persistent, gastrointestinal complaints such as gas, nausea and indigestion
• frequency and/or urgency of urination
• change in bowel habits
• unexplained weight loss or gain
• unusual fatigue, backaches
• abnormal or postmenopausal bleeding

Many of these symptoms are not cancer, but if you notice one or more of them lasting for more than two weeks, please see your doctor.

Risk Factors include:

• Age: most common in people over age 50
• Family history of ovarian cancer (mother, daughter, sister, grandmother, or aunt)
• Inherited mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes
• Having Northern European and/or Ashkenazi Jewish heritage
• Never being pregnant

Suspected risk factors include:

• Fertility drugs
• Exposure to talcum powder†
• Hormone replacement therapy
• Obesity

Read more:

About Ovarian Cancer

Links to Additional Resources