’90 Day Fiancé’ Star Liz Woods Explains How Her Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis Affected Her Relationship, ‘I’m Scared My Sickness Can Push Someone Away’

Reality TV star Liz Woods, 33, is navigating life with cancer while still holding onto her hope for love. Woods has faced gastric cancer and, more recently, revealed she’s coping with the aftermath of an ovarian cancer diagnosis.

On a recent episode of 90 Day Fiancé, she opened up to someone she’s developed feelings for, sharing details she rarely says out loud.
“I don’t share with a lot of people how I’m sick right now,” she admitted.

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Woods explained that doctors discovered a mass in her ovaries during a routine check‑up. “About a year ago, I found out I have ovarian cancer when I miscarried a baby,” she said. “I felt like I’ve gone on this whole journey by myself, being sick.”

The man listening thanked her for trusting him with something so personal. Still, Woods confessed she fears her illness could push people away. “Is someone going to leave me? Is someone not going to be able to take on everything that I come with?”

Her worries echo what many patients experience: cancer can strain relationships, especially when loved ones don’t know how to respond.

WATCH: When Someone You Love is Facing Cancer — Be Patient

Breast cancer survivor Melissa Berry says patience and understanding are essential, noting that emotional swings and identity shifts are common during treatment.

“In some ways [cancer] can bring people together, it can make you much stronger, or it can weaken a relationship,” Melissa says.

“I experienced incredible mood swings, and I, at times, felt like I didn’t even recognize myself. I think it’s important for the people that are close to the patient to understand that you’re going to be going through some really rough stuff … not just physically, but emotionally.”

RELATED: A Story of Love, Marriage, and Laughing Through Cancer

WATCH: How to Communicate Your Desires & Fears and Create New Sexual Experiences

Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin adds that open communication—especially around intimacy—can help couples build new forms of closeness.

“I always encourage my patients to communicate their worries and fears with their partners. Creating an open line of communication regarding sex can actually create a new form of intimacy while building safety as you explore a new sexual relationship,” Dr. Strongin said.

Sharing fears, she says, often reveals underlying desires and creates space to explore new ways of giving and receiving comfort and pleasure.

Understanding an Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis

Ovarian cancer has been called the “cancer that whispers” because women often don’t experience symptoms until their cancer has already reached its late stages. The symptoms that do appear at first are hard to identify as cancer.

“Ovarian cancer does not have any specific symptoms,” Dr. Karlan explained.

The symptoms of ovarian cancer may include the following, according to SurvivorNet experts.

• A feeling of bloating or fullness
• Pain in the pelvis or abdomen
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Changes in bowel habits

WATCH: Fighting “Platinum Resistant” Ovarian Cancer

On the horizon is a treatment option for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Platinum resistance is typically defined as progression within 6 months of receiving platinum-based chemotherapy. The Phase III ENGOT‑ov65/KEYNOTE‑B96 trial has shown great promise for this difficult-to-treat form of ovarian cancer, exploring adding immunotherapy, where the patient’s own immune cells are reengineered to fight cancer, to chemotherapy.

Dr. Premal Thaker, a gynecologic oncologist at Washington University, recalls, “We all know, checkpoint inhibitors have made a big splash in many cancers, and we have been trying so hard in ovarian cancer to try to use these immune checkpoint inhibitors…”

For patients whose tumors had a PD-L1 (a protein on the surface of some cancer cells) CPS combined positive score (measuring how much PD-L1 a tumor expresses) of 1 or higher, treatment with pembrolizumab helped them go longer without cancer progression. Their median progression-free survival was 8.3 months compared with 7.2 months for those who received a placebo, a difference that was statistically meaningful.

Dr. Robert Coleman, a gynecologic Oncologist at Texas Oncology in Houston, remarks, “We saw no new adverse events outside our expectations, nor did we see an acceleration of adverse events with the combination, including the triplet.”

Dr. Coleman explains, “In the platinum-resistant setting, I believe these will be favored regimens, so as a second-line therapy…Ultimately, cross-trial comparisons will drive some of the influence of those trials and the sequencing of therapy. This will likely be further augmented by biomarker expression, which we expect to be more robust as time goes on.”

With regard to how this treatment may fit in with other systemic options, such as antibody drug conjugates, Dr. Dana Chase, a professor of gynecologic oncology at UCLA Health, explains, “The sequencing of the treatment is really dependent on the patient’s tumor biomarker profile. We will need to take into consideration: 1) biomarker profile, 2) prior toxicities, 3) patient’s performance status, and/or goals of care/treatment. Depending on these three factors, we may either treat with an ADC first or choose options like the B96 option first.”

Dr. Chase adds that, “The sequencing of the treatment is really dependent on the patient’s tumor biomarker profile. We will need to take into consideration: biomarker profile, prior toxicities, patient’s performance status, and goals of treatment.” Depending on those three factors, doctors can best decide which treatment to pursue first.”

The Standard of Care for Ovarian Cancer

The standard of care for ovarian cancer patients is chemotherapy, which helps many patients reach remission.

WATCH: How your ovarian cancer responds to certain types of chemotherapies guides your future treatments.

With recurrence a strong possibility for this disease, especially in the later stages of ovarian cancer, certain drug treatments to deal with it are giving many women hope.

Maintenance therapy is continued treatment after the patient finishes their initial treatment. After an ovarian cancer patient completes a round of treatments — such as surgery and chemotherapy — her doctor may recommend some form of maintenance therapy to try and delay possible recurrence. Maintenance therapy can involve taking an oral pill called a PARP inhibitor every day after chemotherapy and can keep cancer in remission longer.

Genetic testing helps doctors determine the best maintenance therapy.

The type of treatment recommended for recurrence can depend on several factors:

• The period within which the cancer recurred
• The kind of chemotherapy the woman underwent in the past
• Side effects that came as a result of past treatments
• The length of time between the last treatment the woman underwent and the recurrence
• The specific mutations and molecular features of your cancer

What’s the Standard of Care for Ovarian Cancer Recurrence?

Ovarian cancer returning after initial treatment is common; in fact, recurrence happens in “almost 25 percent of cases with early-stage diseases and in more than 80 percent with more advanced stages,” according to research published in the Gland Surgery medical journal.

For many women, platinum-based chemotherapy—often the first line of defense—remains effective across multiple cycles. But over time, cancer cells may adapt, and resistance can emerge after just one round or several.

Platinum Sensitivity vs. Resistance: What It Means for Treatment

• Platinum Sensitive: If a patient remains cancer-free for more than six months after platinum therapy, they’re considered platinum sensitive. This signals that the cancer is still responding, and doctors may continue using platinum-based drugs.
• Platinum Resistant: If recurrence occurs within six months, the cancer is classified as platinum resistant. In these cases, oncologists typically shift to alternative therapies tailored to overcome resistance.

Adjusting Chemotherapy Strategies

• Taxol (Paclitaxel): Commonly paired with platinum in initial treatment. For platinum-resistant patients, doctors may increase its frequency—administering it weekly instead of every three weeks.
• Other Options: Drugs like Gemzar (gemcitabine), Topotecan, and Doxil (liposomal doxorubicin) are often introduced, sometimes alongside Avastin (bevacizumab).

How Avastin Works

Avastin is a VEGF inhibitor that blocks angiogenesis—the process by which tumors grow new blood vessels. By cutting off this supply, Avastin helps starve the tumor and slow its progression. It’s frequently combined with chemotherapy in recurrent cases.

Targeting DNA Repair: Platinum & PARP Inhibitors

• Platinum drugs and PARP inhibitors share a powerful mechanism: they disrupt a cancer cell’s ability to repair damaged DNA. This is especially effective in patients with BRCA mutations, whose cells already have impaired DNA repair pathways.
• PARP Inhibitors: Initially tested in BRCA-positive patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, these drugs are now used more broadly. Emerging evidence shows they can extend survival even in patients without BRCA mutations.
  Genetic Testing: Oncologists strongly recommend BRCA testing for all ovarian cancer patients. Knowing your genetic profile helps guide treatment and opens doors to targeted therapies.

Questions for Your Doctor

If you have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and need guidance to further educate yourself on the disease and treatment, consider these questions for your doctor.

• What type of ovarian cancer do I have?
• What stage is my cancer in?
• Do you recommend I get genetic testing for any gene mutations, such as the BRCA gene mutation?
• What initial treatment options do you recommend?
• What are the possible side effects of the recommended treatment, and how can they be coped with?
• Will insurance help cover my recommended treatment?

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