Treating the ovarian cyst is a matter that depends on a lot of factors. Some of them are the dimension and the appearance of the cyst, whether there are or not symptoms, or if you have been through the menopause.

Sometimes, pre-menopausal women who discover they have a cyst don’t need to follow any treatment if it turns that cyst is a small and functional one. All they must do is to have an ultrasound scan after a month, to check on the cyst, because there are chances that it will disappear without any treatment in a few weeks.

In the case of post-menopausal women, if a cyst is detected on one ovary, the risk of developing cancer is very low. More than half of this type of cysts will disappear in about 3 months. For detecting the ovarian cysts, there are ultrasound scans and blood tests for the CA132 protein. This post-menopausal women are advised to follow a ultrasound scan 4 months after the cysts have disappeared.

Sometimes, when the cyst is large, it causes symptoms or appears during pregnancy, the doctor might recommend a surgery operation to take the cyst out, because without looking at it under a microscope, it is difficult to say if it will turn into a cancerous one or not.

There exists a surgical technique called laparoscopy, which is proper to use when you want to remove smaller cysts. This method consists in two small cuts that are made in the lower abdomen and through those cuts air is blown into the pelvis so that the abdominal wall shall be lifted away from the organs inside. A laparoscope is then introduced into the abdomen, and the surgeon can see the internal organs. With the small tools attached to the laparoscope, the surgeon can make a little cut in the cyst and will drain the fluid away. He can also just take a sample from the cyst, to determine what kind it is.

Laparotomy is another surgical technique, which is recommended to be done when the cyst presents the risk of bursting or spilling while it’s being removed. This operation requires a larger cut that must be made across the top of the pubic hairline, so the surgeon will have access through that cut to take out the cyst and sent it to the laboratory to see if it is cancerous or not.

If it turns out that the cyst is cancerous, the doctor might need to apply to you a treatment to remove both of the ovaries, the uterus, the omentum and some lymph nodes.

Every year, 6,800 new cases of ovarian cancer are discovered in the UK, and there are about 4,650 deaths per year caused by the ovarian cancer. The average age of woman that are diagnosed with ovarian cancer is 63, but this disease frequently appears between ages of 50 and 80, sometimes even at younger ages.

Using a long time oral contraceptives reduces the risk of ovarian cancer by three quarters, and this kind of cancer appears more often in women who have never had children than in those who have.

The cancer is hard to detect in early stages, but when it is caught in time and it is still confined to the ovaries, it can be cured with surgical treatment.