(NewsNation) — A quarter of all ovarian cancer cases have been linked to endometriosis, according to a new study, which is leading experts to push for more awareness and more studies of the disorder.
Endometriosis excision specialist Dr. Tamer Seckin, who co-founded the Endometriosis Foundation of America (EndoFound), joined NewsNation for a wide-ranging interview about the disease that affects one in 10 women and individuals born with a uterus in the United States, and roughly 200 women globally.
While a common misconception about endometriosis is that it is simply a “menstruation disease,” EndoFound says it’s in fact a complex systemic disease associated with tissue similar to the endometrial lining of the uterus growing outside the uterus that can affect the whole body.
The endometriosis specialist has dedicated over 35 years of his medical career to understanding the illness. He said some cardinal symptoms are, “severe pain with periods, that’s called dysmenorrhea, pain during intimacy, during, after and pain with bowel symptoms like gas, bloating, painful bowel movements, constipation, diarrhea, particularly the flaring up with periods.”
“The other systemic symptoms are obviously fatigue, brain fog, all the immune things that can come along with it,” he added. “And there’s a component of it also as a silent endometriosis that’s very associated closely with infertility.”
Advanced endometriosis can cause lung collapse, kidney loss, bowel obstruction and other complications and the only way to verify the disease is through a biopsy of the tissue.
On average, it takes between 7-12 years for people born with a uterus to be diagnosed with endometriosis and as Seckin noted, living with endometriosis is “a heavy burden” for many patients.
While endometriosis is classified as a benign disease, a new study states that women and those born with a uterus have a startlingly increased risk of developing ovarian cancer.
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that women with endometriosis had a 4.2-fold higher ovarian cancer risk than those without endometriosis. Women with ovarian endometriomas and/or deep infiltrating endometriosis, compared with no endometriosis, had a 9.7-fold higher risk.
“What is important is that the American Cancer Society has now (includes on) their website, lists the risk of endometriosis as a potential precursor or potential risk factor for ovarian cancer,” Seckin said.
“Only 25% of the ovarian cancers, maybe 20-25% approximately, are endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer. There’s a group there. So there is a definite relationship there when you look from the pathological perspective under a microscope,” the New York-based surgeon said.
Seckin noted that it’s only in the last 10 years that doctors now know ovarian cancer does not always develop in the ovaries, but rather in the fallopian tubes.
“We have to also clarify, as you know, ovarian cancer does not come from ovaries most of the time. Endometriosis-related ovarian cancer, peritoneal endometriosis are the product of tubal origin,” he said.
Seckin said he is encouraged by the increased awareness over the last 20 years about endometriosis, citing the importance of patient advocacy and early intervention.
“I believe over the last two decades, we changed the rhetoric and the conversation on endometriosis in a way that is pretty much all over now. And I think there’s awareness, especially in the age of social media,” Seckin told NewsNation, “I’m happy that we see more patients diagnosed earlier. It gives me great courage and hope that early diagnosis is there because the key is early diagnosis and timely diagnosis. Finally, intervention, whether medical or surgical, is the best prevention.”
Editor’s Note: Diana Falzone is an EndoFound Ambassador