Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month 2018

Ovarian cancer is the biggest gynaecological killer of UK women, with UK survival rates amongst the worst in Europe. March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common form of cancer death in women, after breast, lung and bowel cancer.  However, the average GP will see only one case of ovarian cancer every five years.

11 women die in the UK every day from ovarian cancer. Awareness of ovarian cancer is low, both amount women and GPs. Three quarters of women are diagnosed once the cancer has already spread, making treatment more difficult. That is why awareness is so important, to drive forward improvements in detection, treatment and ultimately survival.

 “Enough is enough, this March Start Making Noise so we can make sure women have the best chances of survival.”

Ovarian cancer in numbers:

• About 7,300 women are diagnosed each year in the UK
• 4,100 women lose their lives each year – that’s 11 women every day
• A woman in the UK has a one in 50 chance of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in her lifetime.
• When a woman is diagnosed at the earliest stage, her chance of surviving ovarian cancer for five years or more double from just 46 per cent to more than 90 per cent
• Nearly half of GPs (44 per cent) mistakenly believe symptoms only present in the later stages of ovarian cancer
• Just one in five UK women (20 per cent) can name bloating as one of the main symptoms of ovarian cancer
• Almost half of women (45 per cent) must wait three months or more from first visiting their GP to getting a correct diagnosis
• Over a quarter of women with ovarian cancer (26 per cent) are diagnosed through an emergency presentation such as Accident and Emergency
• One third (31 per cent) of women mistakenly think the cervical screening programme would detect ovarian cancer