How much surgery you have depends on how far your cancer has spread and on your general health. For women of childbearing age who have certain kinds of tumors and whose cancer is in the early stage, an effort will be made to treat the disease without removing both ovaries and the uterus.

Several surgical techniques are used to treat ovarian cancer. The medical vocabulary for these operations is based on the Greek or Latin medical names of the organs they remove. The medical name of an operation that removes something usually ends with "-ectomy." So, removing the uterus is a hysterectomy (sometimes called simple or total – meaning the cervix is also removed), removing the omentum is an omentectomy, and removing lymph nodes is a lymphadenectomy (also called lymph node biopsy or dissection). Because there are two ovaries and two fallopian tubes, we must distinguish between removing one or both. Removing one ovary is a unilateral (one side) oophorectomy, and removing both is a bilateral (two sides) oophorectomy. Likewise, removing one or two fallopian tubes is a unilateral salpingectomy or bilateral salpingectomy. Often, several organs are removed in one operation. For example, removing both ovaries and fallopian tubes is a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.

The other important surgical procedure is cytoreduction or debulking. In this procedure, the surgeon removes as much tumor as possible, even though all of it can't be removed. Most doctors feel this greatly improves a patient's prognosis (outlook for survival).

The above partial list of names of operations should help you in understanding information you may read about ovarian cancer and in discussing your cancer with your health care professionals. Don't be afraid to ask your cancer care team to explain your condition and recommend treatments in simple, nonmedical terms.

It is important that your surgeon is experienced in ovarian cancer surgery. Many general gynecologists are not prepared to do the appropriate cancer operation, which requires careful staging and perhaps, debulking. For this reason, many general gynecologists refer such patients to gynecologic oncologists. Ask your doctor if he or she is experienced in treating ovarian cancer, will stage your cancer properly, and can perform a debulking procedure if that is needed. Otherwise you may need a second operation if debulking is required.

Removal of both ovaries and/or the uterus means that you will not be able to become pregnant. It also means that you will go into menopause if you have not done so already. Most women will remain in the hospital for 3 to 7 days after the operation and can resume their usual activities within 4 to 6 weeks.

Revised: 09/08/2004