Rebeca's Case

Rebeca did not go to the gynaecologist because anything hurt. She went for a formality. She was in the middle of the process of adopting a child and, among the documents she was asked for, there was a medical certificate stating that she was healthy, physically and mentally. One more paper in the file. So she went to the person she trusted most and had closest at hand: her friend and gynaecologist, Dr. Torrent.

"I needed a doctor to certify that I was perfectly healthy, physically and mentally. I went so he would fill in the form."

He signed the paper, but first he asked her a routine question: how long since her last check-up. It had been a long time. Too long.

"He said: 'it has been a long time since you had a check-up'. I told him it was true. And he offered to do it right there."

Rebeca agreed. In theory it was a formality inside another formality.

The ultrasound

The ultrasound showed something that did not fit. Masses in the ovaries, as Rebeca remembers it, in both of them, and the doctor's face changed.

"He saw there was something odd. There were tumours in each ovary. He was alarmed."

Dr. Torrent then did something unusual in a routine consultation: he called his son, Dr. Juan José Torrent, who at that time was specialising in precisely that field, surgical oncology and peritoneal surgery.

"He said: 'I am going to call my son, who is studying this speciality; he will help us and tell us what this is'."

The answer was immediate and blunt.

"When he saw it, he said: 'yes, this is a cancer the size of a house'."

From Barcelona to France

The coincidence was decisive: her gynaecologist's son was training in that very speciality and was the one who set her on the right path. From there, France. And from France, a name: Dr. François Quenet, a European authority in surgery for peritoneal carcinomatosis. Treatment combined cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC.

The hardest part to believe

Of the whole story, what Rebeca repeats is not the operating room or the diagnosis. It is the gap between how she felt and what she was being told.

"I really felt well, perfectly well. I could not believe it, because I felt great." Rebeca, patient

That is the uncomfortable part of ovarian cancer: for a long time it gives no warning. It does not hurt, it gives no clear symptoms, it does not force anyone to see a doctor. In Rebeca's case, had it not been for an adoption form and a gynaecologist who insisted on doing a check-up, the tumour would have kept growing in silence.

Why ovarian cancer is detected late

The early symptoms (abdominal bloating, early satiety, pelvic discomfort) are non-specific and are easily mistaken for digestive problems. There is no population screening programme equivalent to those for breast or colon cancer, so periodic gynaecological check-ups with ultrasound remain the main route to early detection.

What cytoreduction is

Surgery that aims to remove all visible disease from the abdominal cavity. In advanced ovarian cancer, the degree of cytoreduction achieved is one of the most decisive prognostic factors.

What HIPEC is

Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy: after surgery, heated chemotherapy is delivered directly into the abdomen to act on the microscopic tumour cells that surgery cannot see. It is performed during the same operation.

Why the team matters

Both procedures require centres and teams with volume and specific experience in peritoneal surgery.