About Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women, after breast, lung, bowel and endometrial cancers. Each year some 7,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with the disease. Approximately 10% of ovarian cancers are due to inherited genetic factors but the majority of ovarian cancers occur in women without a family history of the disease.

Symptoms

Ovarian cancer can be hard to detect. Typical symptoms of ovarian cancer include bloating and abdominal discomfort, which also occur frequently in healthy women and those with other conditions. Women with persistent or worsening symptoms should seek prompt medical advice.

Recent research has confirmed that almost all women with ovarian cancer experience symptoms even in early stages of the disease. It is not yet clear whether acting on symptoms earlier makes a difference to the effectiveness of treatment.

Treatment & Survival

If the cancer is found when still confined to the ovaries, over 90% of women will survive for more than five years. Treatment in the earliest stages involves surgical removal and careful exploration of the abdomen to exclude any spread of disease.

Unfortunately most women in the UK are not diagnosed until the cancer has already spread extensively, making successful treatment difficult, and survival rates much lower.

The treatment for ovarian cancer which has spread beyond the ovaries usually involves surgery followed by a course of chemotherapy.

More Information

The Eve Appeal and Ovacome recently held a consensus conference on ovarian cancer symptoms the results of which are available here. Professor Jacobs has given an interview on this subject which is available on DIPEx Online.