How to diagnose ovarian tumors

Ovarian tumors refer to tumors that occur on the ovaries. They are one of the common tumors of the female reproductive organs and are of two types: benign and malignant. Regardless of whether they are benign or malignant, ovarian tumors have no obvious symptoms in the early stages, but usually there are lower abdominal discomfort, increased abdominal circumference, abdominal mass, abdominal pain, compression symptoms, menstrual disorders, etc.

Distinguishing whether an ovarian tumor is benign or malignant is a key step in the diagnosis and treatment of this type of tumor. Do not treat a malignant tumor as a benign tumor to avoid wasting time and causing irreversible consequences. However, if a benign tumor is treated as a malignant tumor, it will cause heavy psychological pressure on the patient and cause unnecessary pain. Therefore, it is hoped that benign and malignant tumors can be distinguished before diagnosis and treatment. Although it is sometimes difficult, the following aspects can be used for identification:

(1) Medical history: Patients with benign ovarian tumors have a long course of illness, the tumor grows gradually, and most of them have no symptoms; while patients with malignant ovarian tumors have a short course of illness, the tumor grows rapidly, and is sometimes accompanied by fever.

(2) Under normal circumstances: patients with benign ovarian tumors are in good general condition and often occur in women of childbearing age; while malignant ones progress rapidly, with metastatic lesions in the early stages and cachexia quickly developing. The disease is common in young girls, adolescent girls or postmenopausal women.

(3) Physical signs: Benign ovarian tumors are usually unilateral, movable, cystic, with a smooth surface, intact capsule, and no ascites; while malignant tumors are usually bilateral, immobile, adherent to surrounding tissues, solid or partially solid, and often have growths on the surface that may penetrate the capsule and implant in the abdominal or pelvic cavity. Fixed nodules can be felt in the rectouterine pouch. There is often bloody ascites, and cancer cells may be detected in the aspirated ascites.

(4) Pathological examination: The most critical differentiation measure is to take a biopsy of the lesion, or to conduct a comprehensive pathological examination of the tumor removed during surgery. The structure of the tumor tissue, the morphology, degree of differentiation, nuclear staining and nuclear division of the tumor cells are important bases for determining benign and malignant ovarian tumors.