LEBANON - In Lebanon, ovarian cancer consistently ranks as the 7th most common cancer among women, with approximately 200 new cases diagnosed annually and an estimated 146 women dying from the disease every year. These numbers point to a difficult reality: ovarian cancer is not among the most common cancers, but it is one of the most challenging to detect early.

Ovarian cancer is a cancer that starts in the ovaries, fallopian tubes, or nearby tissue, and globally, more than 75% of affected women are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when treatment is usually more difficult.

What Screening Currently Exists?

Part of the challenge is that ovarian cancer does not currently have a simple, routine screening test for women at average risk. Unlike breast cancer, where mammography can help detect disease early, or cervical cancer, where Pap smears and HPV testing are widely used. Ovarian cancer has no standardized screening program for the general population.

Tests such as pelvic ultrasound or the CA-125 blood test may be used when doctors are investigating symptoms or monitoring high-risk women, but they are not recommended as routine screening tools for women without symptoms or known high risk, because they have not been shown to reduce deaths from ovarian cancer and may lead to unnecessary procedures.

This is why early detection often depends less on screening and more on noticing changes in the body. But here, too, ovarian cancer is difficult. Its symptoms are often vague, ordinary, and easy to explain away.

What are the symptoms?

Common symptoms include persistent bloating, feeling full quickly or having difficulty eating, pelvic or abdominal pain, and needing to urinate more often or more urgently than usual. These signs may be mistaken for digestive problems, stress, weight changes, urinary infections, irritable bowel syndrome, or normal hormonal changes. Because the symptoms can come slowly and do not always feel alarming at first, many women may delay seeking medical advice.

The issue is not that women are unaware of their bodies. It is that ovarian cancer often hides behind symptoms that feel common. A woman may think she is simply bloated after eating, tired from daily stress, or dealing with a minor stomach or bladder issue. But when symptoms are new, persistent, frequent, or unusual for her body, they should not be ignored.

What Can Be Done?

Moving beyond awareness means helping women understand when to act. Awareness is not only about knowing that ovarian cancer exists. It is about knowing that there is no routine screening test, that symptoms can be subtle, and that listening to repeated changes in the body can make a difference.

For ovarian cancer, early detection remains difficult, but taking persistent symptoms seriously is one of the most important steps women can take.