Clinical Observation On 27 Cases Of Primary Ovarian Cancer With Ascites Treated By Acupuncture

Ovarian cancer is the second most commonly seen cancer in gynecology.It ranks number one in terms of death rate amongst gynecological cancer.Ovarian cancer patients often suffer from ascites,regardless of their disease staging.Symptoms of early stage ovarian cancer are not obvious,and it is also difficult to diagnose ovarian cancer histology and malignancy.Over 70%of ovarian cancer patients are stage 4 when diagnosed.[1]Ascites occurs when an imbalance between the production and absorption of fluids in the abdominal cavity occurs,and the total amount of fluid in the abdominal cavity exceeds 25ml.Ascites is also one of the most commonly seen complications of ovarian cancer.Ascites brings about even more complications,such as bad appetite,shortness of breath,swelling of the abdomen,weakness of the body,decreased quality of life,and in extreme circumstances,even the inability to lie down on a flat surface.As a result,ascites is one of the leading causes of death for ovarian cancer patients.Thus far,scientific studies have yet to come to a conclusion on the reasons behind the formation of primary ovarian cancer induced ascites.Treatments for ovarian cancer include surgery combined with platinum based chemotherapy.With these treatments,ovarian cancer patients have enjoyed a longer survival period.Still,recurrent rates remain high,and patients suffer from drug resistance after recurrence.It is also difficult to differentiate the symptoms of ovarian cancer from other abdominal diseases,such as constipation,swelling of the abdomen,stomachaches etc.The prognosis of ovarian cancer has a close relationship with whether ascites occurs or not.Other treatment methods include using diuretics,replenishing albumin,paracentesis,intraperitoneal chemotherapy etc.[2-4]However,these treatments are usually unsatisfactory due to recurrence.Thus,finding a good treatment for managing ascites has always been a focal point.We used acupuncture to treat many primary ovarian cancer induced ascites patients in clinic,and found that the amount of ascites for many patients decreased,their quality of life was increased,and there were no obvious side effects.In addition,acupuncture is easy,convenient,has good therapeutic effect,cheap,and suitable for widespread use.This lowers the cost needed for managing ascites,and avoids all the complications that other treatments usually bring about.According to Dr.Huang Jinchang’s theories,primary ovarian cancer induced ascites can be further classified into 3 Chinese Medicine syndromes:qi stagnation with damp heat,yang deficiency with dampness,and kidney deficiency causing water metabolism to malfunction.Qi stagnation with damp heat patients feel pain within their abdomens and have bloated abdomens that produce tympanitic percussion sounds,obvious bowel sounds,have tumors that can be felt within the abdomen,obvious enlarged veins along the abdominal skin,have tongues that are more purple,a wiry pulse,and is considered to be an excess syndrome.Yang deficiency with dampness patients have a fear of coldness with cold limbs,cold abdomen,pale complexion,feeling of weakness in the pale and fat tongues,a weak pulse,and is considered to be a deficient syndrome.Kidney deficiency causing water metabolism to malfunction patients suffer from ogliuria,respond well to TCM herbal diuretic treatments,yet experience ogliuria again when not taking TCM herbs.They also experience a feeling of weakness in the knees and waist,have fat pale tongues,weak pulse,is considered a deficient syndrome,and generally have a poorer prognosis compared to the other syndromes.For the research aspect of this thesis,we observed the efficacy of acupuncturing a particular set of acupoints for treating primary ovarian cancer induced ascites.Objective:To observe the efficacy of acupuncturing a particular set of acupoints for treating primary ovarian cancer induced ascites.Method:We randomly chose patients with primary ovarian cancer induced ascites for observation.We acupunctured a set of acupoints daily,leaving the needles in the points for 30 minutes each,and did this for 15 days in a row.The efficacy evaluation standards are as follows:this study is a comparison of each individual patient before and after treatment.Patients undergo two ultrasounds to see the depth of ascites in a supine position,and a reduction of over 50%of the depth of ascites is considered very effective.A reduction of 30%-49%is considered effective.A reduction of less than 30%or an increase in depth of ascites is considered as ineffective.The total efficacy is calculated as:very effective%+effective%.