Abstract:

Clinical symptoms of ovarian cancer are relatively hidden, and most patients are diagnosed at the advanced stage. However, with the improvement of treatments, many patients can now achieve long-term survival. Therefore, for ovarian cancer patients, especially those with advanced recurrent ovarian cancer, improving their quality of life and prolonging their survival should be equally important. A large number of researches have confirmed that ovarian cancer patients suffer serious damage in physical, psychological, social and sexual status. To improve the patients′ quality of life, besides the psychological adjustment carried out throughout the whole period, physicians should also emphasize on the improvement of quality of life according to different periods of ovarian cancer patients. For patients receiving initial treatments, therapies should be supervised, side effects or complications should be tackled with appropriately, and patients should be urged to strengthen physical exercise; for patients with tumor-free survival, should be paid attention to helping patients restore their work and social ability and enhancing their confidence in survival; for patients with tumor survival, symptom management and family support should be carried out.

Key words: Ovarian neoplasms, Quality of life, Questionnaire, Progression free survival, Disease-free interval, Survival with tumor, Recurrence