Becky Drexler is an ovarian cancer survivor who was diagnosed on her birthday in July 2018.

“I have cancer in my family, but I never thought it would impact me,” the 63-year-old White Bear Lake resident says. “Actually, getting it for myself it was shocking and kind of stunning that it could happen.”

After two surgeries and months of chemotherapy, and later, radiation, Drexler is now on a maintenance drug after cancer reappeared in her abdomen in 2020.

“I’m now four years out from that recurrence and feeling very positive,” she declares. “But I know it’s always in the back of my mind that it could come back.”

Drexler isn’t alone.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) says about 3,850 women in Minnesota are living with an ovarian cancer diagnosis and that each year, about 333 more women will be diagnosed and 222 will die from the disease.

Just last week, former State Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic passed away after a battle with ovarian cancer after announcing that diagnosis during her first months in the leadership position in early 2023.

“The causes of most individual ovarian cancers are not known,” notes Margee Brown, an epidemiologist with the Minnesota State Cancer Registry. “There’s not a lot of things we can do to reduce our risk of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer.”

Ovarian cancer is known as ‘the silent killer’ because it’s often diagnosed at an advanced stage due to a lack of early symptoms and early screening.

Experts say most women diagnosed don’t have any risk factors at all — only 20% of these cases are because of a genetic mutation.

But MDH says there are some hopeful signs.

“Ovarian cancer rates in Minnesota are lower than they are for the U.S. as a whole,” Brown explains.

At the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance (MOCA), a Minneapolis research, support and education nonprofit, Executive Director Kathleen Gavin says she’s seen ovarian cancer rates drop 10% over the past two decades.

She noted when she started focusing on ovarian cancer 20 years ago, one in 71 women would have a cancer diagnosis.

Now, she says that number has dropped to between one in 78 to one in 87.

“We know ways to reduce risk for women who are at an elevated risk because of genetic factors,” Gavin explains. “There are new drugs that are much more effective. They’re called PARP inhibitors and those have been approved just in the last 10 years. More women are living better and longer because of that.”

She says there is no specific test for ovarian cancer yet.

But Gavin says those new inhibitor drugs, improved genetic testing, better cancer treatments and self-awareness are making a difference.

“Knowing your family history,” she says, is key. “Making sure your health provider knows your family history and then knowing your body, paying attention to what it’s saying to you.”

MDH says you can also check to see if any other family members have ovarian or breast cancer.

You can also ask your doctor about screening options and ways to lower your risk.   

“Really encourage women to be on the lookout for certain symptoms,” Brown says. “Abdominal bloating or swelling, quickly feeling full after eating, if there’s discomfort in the pelvic area, or the need to urinate.”

Gavin says ovarian cancer research gives her hope for the future.

“I hope we’re close to an early detection test,” she notes. “We hope it will be a blood test that can be done in a doctor’s office and look for biomarkers that would be indicative of ovarian cancer; that’s the game changer.”

Drexler, now a board member at MOCA, says her best friend passed away from ovarian cancer in 2017.

She says the cancer-blocker drug she’s now taking wasn’t available at the time.

Drexler now says she’s working with MOCA to counsel other women who are fighting ovarian cancer.

“Hopefully, I can help other women who are just at the beginning of this crazy roller-coaster that we are on,” she explains.

You can find out more about MOCA here.