Ovarian cancer symptoms—back pain, fatigue, bloating—sound a lot like the symptoms of a ton of other diseases. Researchers from the University of Washington are trying to figure out what symptoms should give doctors a hint that a woman might have ovarian cancer.

What they wanted to know: How common are symptoms of ovarian cancer in women visiting a primary-care doctor?

What they did: About 1,700 women who visited two primary-care clinics anonymously filled out a survey of symptoms from the past year. Any of the symptoms could go with ovarian cancer. For back pain, nausea, diarrhea, and a whole slew of other symptoms, women rated the severity of each and the number of times it happened per month. Another group, 128 women who were about to have an ovarian or pelvic mass removed, filled out an identical survey; then, after surgery, their surveys were correlated with what doctors had learned about their disease from the surgery. Forty-four of the second group had ovarian cancer.

What they found: Ninety-five percent of the women visiting a primary-care doctor and 94 percent of the women with ovarian cancer had felt one of the symptoms in the past year. Women visiting primary-care clinics usually had less severe and less frequent symptoms than women with ovarian cancer. Women with ovarian cancer were much more likely to have had a combination of bloating, increased abdominal size, and a sudden, urgent need to urinate. They were also more likely to have had those three symptoms plus constipation, and their bloating was significantly more severe than that of women visiting primary-care doctors.

What it means to you: Ovarian cancer really isn't the "silent disease" it's thought to be, the authors write; symptoms that are frequent and severe may be worth paying more attention to.

Caveat: Women who knew they were going in for surgery might have been more likely to rate their symptoms as severe.

Find out more: The National Ovarian Cancer Coalition: http://www.ovarian.org/

Read the article: Goff, B.A., Mandel, L.S., Melancon, C.H., and H.G. Muntz. "Frequency of Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer in Women Presenting to Primary Care Clinics." Journal of the American Medical Association. June 9, 2004, Vol. 291, No. 22, pp. 2705–2712.