March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month so Gemma Burke, Senior Lecturer in Radiotherapy has kindly shared with us 7 facts about the disease in order to raise awareness.
Ovarian cancer is the 6th most common cancer in women in the UK with around 20 new cases diagnosed every day, with over half of these being in women over 65.
Vagueness of symptoms is often why women are diagnosed later.
Abdominal pain, Bloating and an increase in abdominal size, frequent urination, and changes to bowel movements are all common symptoms of ovarian cancer.
Risks include getting older, lifestyle factors (smoking/obesity) previous history of breast cancer and genetics.
Incidence of ovarian cancer has reduced slightly in the last decade and survival has doubled in the last 40 years however early diagnosis is key to improving survival as currently UK rates are much lower than Europe.
A combination of surgery and chemotherapy are the most common treatments for Ovarian cancer when diagnosed at a late stage however if diagnosed early surgery may be the only treatment required.
New campaigns such as the one launched by “target Ovarian Cancer” aim to improve early diagnosis rates and survival of ovarian cancer.
References
www.targetovariancancer.org.uk/
#OvarianCancer #StartMakingNoise #TAKEOVAR
