Performing biopsies or use of ovarian cancer fluid to determine correct chemo usage

Performing biopsies or use of ovarian cancer fluid to determine correct chemo usage.

I am repeating this post because of its importance in determining the correct chemo usage. Cancers are especially complex, and many cancers are individual and not often match other type cancers.

Consequently, it is difficult for doctors to determine what chemo treatment will work on any particular cancer. Past experience with various chemo treatment usually allows doctors to make the best choice as to which chemo will work on any particular cancer.

If biopsies prove too invasive to determine what chemo to use on any ovarian cancer, then a safe alternative would be the use of cancer fluid which builds up in the abdominal cavity and contains sufficient cancer cells to experiment with different chemicals in the lab.

In fact, usually labs can better utilize cancer fluid over biopsy tissue  because there is a larger quantity of it for them to apply various chemicals, of course to determine which chemical will kill off the particular cancer of a patient.

The Weisenthal Lab was able to test thirty chemicals on Anita Cino's cancer  by having available to them over two liters of cancer fluid drained from her abdominal cavity by radiology department at New York University Medical Center.

Be sure to check with your doctor if you are an ovarian cancer patient to see which option is better for you.

Victor Cino

Does it make sense to remove ovaries and fallopian tubes, sources of ovarian cancers?


If ovarian cancer develops in the ovaries, the female reproductive organs which store eggs and produce hormones, does it make sense to remove the ovaries, together with the layer of cells which cover the ovaries and the abdominal cavity?

Women , as a precaution, have removed breasts to avoid breast cancer.

Does it make sense then to remove ovaries and fallopian tubes which are the sources of ovarian cancers, after child- bearing ages have passed, to avoid the development of ovarian cancer in these sources?

To my knowledge, nowhere have I read the suggestion of removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes to avoid the development of ovarian cancer.

Victor Cino

From the Cancer Center:

What is Ovarian Cancer?

Ovarian cancer develops in the ovaries, the female reproductive organs which store eggs and produce hormones. The most common type of ovarian cancer is epithelial cancer, which originates in the layer of cells that cover the ovaries and the abdominal cavity. This disease accounts for about 85 percent to 90 percent of all ovarian cancer cases.

What is the difference between fallopian tube cancer, peritoneal cancer and ovarian cancer?

The fallopian tubes are thought to be the source of some ovarian cancers. It is rare for cancers to spread from other parts of the body to the fallopian tubes; they typically spread to the ovaries. Peritoneal cancer develops in the peritoneaum, the lining that covers the surface of the ovaries and other organs in the abdominal cavity.

Although thee cancer types difffer in origin and other factors, ovarian, fallopian tube and peritoneal cancers are often treated with the same approach and techniques.

What Causes Ovarian Cancer?

It is not clear why some women develop ovarian cancer while others do not, but the risk of developing the disease increases with age. Other factors which may increase the risk of ovarian cancer include the following:

1. Pregnancy over the age of 35;
2. A history of not carrying a pregnancy to term;
3. Use of fertility drugs;
4. Use of androgens;
5. A family history of ovarian, breast or colorectal canceers;
6. A personal history of breast cancer;
7. A known genetic mutation (e.g. BRCA1 or BRCA2.

An article which appeared in the New York Times on Feb 19, 2018, described how rare types of ovarian cancer were treated with immunotherapy  , and despite doctors' opinions that this treatment would not work , the cancer in four women rapidly shrunk to the point where the cancer basically disappeared and posed no longer an immediate threat.

Patients with ovarian cancer should consult their doctors to discuss this treatment.

Victor Cino