Last Tuesday night, Buffalo Bills player Tony Steward announced on Instagram that he lost his fiancee to ovarian cancer, just two months after she was diagnosed with the disease.

"You have the biggest heart I have ever seen in my entire life and I promise you that it will live on in me, our family and every single soul you have touched," Steward wrote in an emotional post directed at his late fiancee, Brittany Burns. "Every single day of your life you have been a fighter and I know this because of the unbelievable family you brought me into. We will all honor everything you stand for in life. I will continue to be the person that you always bring out in me. Believe me when I say that I deeply love you with every ounce of everything in me."

Burns was just 26 when she died, reportedly of a rare form of the cancer.

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 21,000 new cases of ovarian cancer were diagnosed last year, and more than 14,000 women died from the disease. It's also the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women.

But how common is it to develop ovarian cancer at such a young age? "The majority of women who develop it are older, but we do see it in young women," says Lauren Streicher, M.D., an associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Genetics can play a role, Streicher says, which is why it's important to pay attention to your family history. Specifically, women who carry the mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes associated with breast cancer are at a higher risk. However, Streicher notes that they only make up about 20 percent of all ovarian cancer cases.

The major symptoms of ovarian cancer are fairly nonspecific, making it difficult to diagnose, says David Cohn, M.D., gynecologic oncology division director at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center—Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. "This strongly argues for a woman paying attention to her body, understanding which signs and symptoms may indicate a problem, and communicating these clearly to her healthcare provider," he says.

While there are several signs of the disease, Streicher says two in particular have been found to be important: Persistent abdominal bloating and urinating more than usual. Streicher acknowledges that the symptoms are "really vague," but says the degree to which a woman experiences them is important.


"If you're waking up every day and feeling a lot of abdominal pressure and bloating, and urinating frequently, that's something you pay attention to," she says. "It may be nothing but the majority of women with ovarian cancer reported having those symptoms."

Early detection is key, Cohn says: "The survival of a woman with an ovarian cancer confined to the ovary (stage 1) is greater than 90 percent, whereas once it has spread to the abdominal cavity (stage 3), the survival is less than 40 percent."

Unfortunately, there are no simple tests for ovarian cancer, which is why it's often detected in later stages. It's not detected through a Pap smear (which detects cervical pre-cancer and cancer), but there is a blood test called "CA125" which has a very high false negative rate, Streicher says. "Unless you're going to get it drawn every week, that's not the answer either," she says.

It's possible to lower your risk of ovarian cancer, and the biggest way to do so is by using hormonal birth control, says Jason James, M.D., medical director at Miami's FemCare Ob-Gyn. "There is data to suggest that using birth control pills can significantly decrease the likelihood that a woman will develop ovarian cancer," he says. "Women who have been on them for five years have decreased odds by 50 percent."

Maintaining a healthy diet and weight is also important, because, in addition to keeping you healthy, may make you more likely to notice abdominal bloating earlier than someone who is overweight, says Streicher.

Above all else, listen to your body. If you're experiencing constant abdominal pressure and urinating more than usual, see your doctor. And if your doctor brushes you off, get a second opinion. "My No.1 message is that ovarian cancer can strike young women," says Streicher. "Don't panic if you're having bloating and urinary symptoms, but don't ignore it either."

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