Stage 3 Ovarian Cancer?

My best friend of 13 years has been diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. The doctors gave her 3-5 years. Does anyone have hope of living past that? Is there any web sites I can research to learn more? What is the best thing I can do for her? She lives in Boston MA and I live in Missouri. We talk everyday still with the occasional flight to visit. I couldnt feel more useless right now.

Ovarian cancer is a malignant ovarian neoplasm (an abnormal growth located on the ovaries).

Stage III of the disease is - microscopic peritoneal implants outside of the pelvis; or limited to the pelvis with extension to the small bowel or omentum.
IIIA - microscopic peritoneal metastases beyond pelvis
IIIB - macroscopic peritoneal metastases beyond pelvis less than 2 cm in size
IIIC - peritoneal metastases beyond pelvis > 2 cm or lymph node metastases.

Surgery is the preferred treatment and is frequently necessary for diagnosis. Studies have shown that surgery performed by a specialist in gynecologic oncology usually result in a higher rate of cure. Chemotherapy is used as after surgery to treat any residual disease. Until recently, intravenous chemotherapy was used in treating patients with advanced ovarian cancer. A recent study has shown that women with advanced ovarian cancer live longer if chemotherapy is given into the abdomen. Now doctors are recommending chemotherapy delivered to the abdomen as a preferred method of treating advanced ovarian cancer. This treatment is referred to as intraperitoneal chemoperfusion. Chemotherapy can also be used to treat women who have a recurrence. Radiation therapy can also be used.

Chemosensitivity testing is being done by laboratories in the USA, Europe, and Asia. These labs use a variety of methods to attempt to identify chemotherapy agents that will work with an individual's cancer. It is impossible to perfectly model cancer chemotherapy in a laboratory test. Nonetheless, more than a dozen peer-reviewed studies have shown that drugs active in the laboratory are more likely to work than drugs that are inactive in the laboratory. The tests remain controversial because clinical trials have not been performed to prove that basing treatment on test results improves clinical outcomes. In other words, the tests have been validated for accuracy but not for efficacy. On the other hand, all other laboratory tests used as an aid for drug selection in cancer have also been validated only for accuracy and not for efficacy. The procedure often requires that the patient contact a lab offering this service, which then ships containers ahead of surgery, so that the surgeon can send tumor samples in for testing. In the USA costs are often not covered by insurance.

Surgery is usually the first treatment for ovarian cancer. The type of surgery depends upon how widespread the cancer is when diagnosed (the cancer stage), as well as the type and grade of cancer. The surgeon may remove one (unilateral) or both ovaries (bilateral), the fallopian tubes (salpingectomy), and the uterus (hysterectomy). For some very early tumors (stage 1, low grade or low-risk disease), only the involved ovary and fallopian tube will be removed (called a "unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy," USO), especially in young females who wish to preserve their fertility and have children.

So what are the treatments have been given. If the doctors are hopefull afor 3-5 years it is very good.She may withstand the treatments due to her age and in which case she can do better.
Let us hope for the best.

I will keep her and you in my prayers; and although she is in the fight of her life, I pray that she will live her life to the fullest. Who knows? She could have more time than diagnosed. You are one excellent friend, and I pray that the Lord will bless you as your friendship blesses her.

Just keep being such a good friend. I wish I had some info. on this but I don't . My prayers will be with you and your friend.

she needs to get a hysterectomy and that is what saved my moms life and the only thing i can say is pray and god will do what is right for both of you trust in him

Did she say 3-5 years or 3-5 months? 3-5 years would be a far stretch of the imagination.

I am an ovarian cancer survivor. Has she had her surgery yet? If she has not yet had it - I can stress enough the importance of having the surgery done by a GYNECOLOGICAL ONCOLOGIST. NOT a ob-gyn or regular surgeon. Survival rates after surgery by a gynecological oncologist are almost double that done by a regular doctor.

I also recommend www.hystersisters.com as a great website to recover from the surgery. There is also a good section for cancer issues on it.

The main thing she needs to do is to become her own doctor and also to become an expert on ovarian cancer. The more she 'fights', the better will be her prognosis. Is it 3A, B or C? That makes a difference.

Help her research. Some sites listed above are good. The best book I've found is Ovarian Cancer: Your Guide to Taking Control. Kristine Conner and Lauren Langford. That book and the hystersisters website are the main resources. Plus prayer and loving family and friends. It's also very important that she not give up.

You're a good friend - hang in there with her.

Check out the eyesontheprize.com website. Talking to her and just living life normally is the best thing you can do. Maybe a visit to see her would be nice.

I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer -stage 3C-in April of 2005, had a complete hysterectomy performed by a gyn oncology surgeon, followed by 6 chemotherapy sessions. I was not told survival rates-don't believe them anyway. Everyone is different and survival depends on your original state of health and mental attitude in addition to how sucessful surgery and subsequent treatment was. My original pre-surgery CA125-measurement of cancer cells in the blood-was over 500. After surgery, It fell to 135, after 1st chemo 35, after 3rd chemo-nonexistant. I was told by my oncologist that my cancer could kill me but now , after 0 cancer cells in CA125, he said I might as well have my mediport removed as he forsees no further need of it. This is my 2nd go-round with cancer. I am a 16 year survivor of breast cancer also. Please contact me if you need more info and encouragement and tell me more re your friend. I would like to know. Statistics are just that-not a concrete forecast of an individual's reaction to a disease .