Four side effects of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer

In recent years, the incidence of ovarian cancer has been increasing year by year and the trend of younger patients is increasing. Chemotherapy is one of the most effective treatments. However, experts say that although chemotherapy is effective in treating ovarian cancer, it also has certain side effects, and patients should be aware of this.

Side effects of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer:

1. The mass is fixed, which is one of the characteristics of ovarian malignant tumors.

2. Bilateral lower abdominal masses: 75% of malignant ovarian tumors grow bilaterally, while only 15% of benign ovarian tumors grow bilaterally.

3. Cachexia. Patients with prolonged illness may experience cachexia symptoms such as progressive weight loss, fatigue and listlessness due to long-term consumption and loss of appetite.

4. Ascites. Although benign ovarian tumors such as fibroids or papillary cystadenomas can also be complicated by ascites, malignant ovarian tumors are more likely to be complicated by ascites. In addition, ascites is often bloody because malignant tumor cells have penetrated the tumor wall or metastasized to the peritoneum.

Chemotherapy for ovarian cancer can not only kill cancer cells, but also has a certain killing effect on normal growth cells in the human body, especially those tissues with relatively active metabolic proliferation, such as hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow, skin, hair, digestive tract, etc. The impact on the bone marrow is mainly to cause bone marrow suppression, change blood count, and decrease the number of red, white blood cells and platelets. The hair follicles are inhibited, causing hair loss. Killing of digestive tract cells can cause anorexia, vomiting, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, etc. Chemotherapy drugs can also kill certain other cells, such as nervous system cells, causing nervous system symptoms.