There is no effective screening test to identify ovarian cancer. As a result, 75% of ovarian cancers are diagnosed in a late stage, lessening the chance for a cure.

The problem is that the symptoms of ovarian cancer are not uncommon among all women at times and so are often misdiagnosed as being related to other causes, such as menopause.

Here are the six most common complaints associated with ovarian cancer according to researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine:

* pelvic pain
* abdominal pain
* increased abdominal size
* abdominal bloating
* difficulty eating
* feeling full quickly

When any of these symptoms had been present for less than a year and occurred more than 12 days a month, they were considered independently predictive of ovarian cancer risk.

Speaking to WebMD, researcher Barbara Goff, MD, said “These are very common symptoms that everyone has from time to time. The purpose is not to scare women and make everyone think they have ovarian cancer. It is to alert women and their physicians that there may be cause for concern if these symptoms come on quickly and occur with frequency.”

Six Warning Signs of Possible Ovarian Cancer