Malignant tumors of the ovary are associated with the highest mortality of all gynecologic cancers. No screening program for the general population exists and all efforts of it introduction have proven to be ineffective.
Most patients with early-stage ovarian cancer are asymptomatic, gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with malignant ovarian tumors are not usually present until generalized disease. Gynecologic examination is of little importance in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ovarian tumors due to frequent extraovarian manifestation of the disease.
The ideal combination for the preoperative diagnostics seems to be an expert ultrasound examination with tumor markers CA125 and HE4 assessment.