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Early detection crucial to save lives
IT is the fourth most common cancer among women in the UK, yet there is no accurate test to detect it.
We found out more about ovarian cancer, and how you can help raise funds for research aimed at stopping this silent killer.
If detected early enough, the recovery rate for ovarian cancer can be as high as 90 per cent, but, all too often, that is not the case.
Unlike breast cancer, which produces tell-tale lumps, ovary cancer grows unnoticed deep within the abdomen, sometimes without any symptoms at all.
That means that, by the time it is detected, the tumour has often expanded into other organs, leaving sufferers with little or no chance of survival.
In the UK, of the 6,600 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year, about 4,400 die from the disease. That's 71 per cent.
Compare that to the 44,000 women who contract breast cancer annually, of whom just 12,000 – or 30 per cent – lose their battle for life, and it is clear that more needs to be done.
The statistics are grim, but Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, spearheaded by the Eve Appeal, is intended to change that.
Set up in 2005, the Eve Appeal set itself the target of raising 5m in five years to fund research into ovarian cancer detection and treatment.
One of the projects it is funding, the largest of its kind in the world, is a 10-year collaborative trial of ovarian cancer screening, which has been running since 2001.
Researchers at 13 centres around the country compared two methods of screening on a group of 202,000 women.
One is a blood test measuring levels of CA125, a protein often found in elevated levels in women with ovarian cancer.
The other is ultrasound, used to detect abnormalities in the ovaries, such as cysts. The remaining 100,000 women are used as a control group and receive no screening.
Researchers hope that the two tests together might offer the best way of diagnosing ovarian cancer.
Though the study still has two years to go, early results are encouraging, suggesting detection rates for those in the early stages of ovarian cancer could be greatly improved.
If translated into a national system of screening, like those for breast or cervical cancer, the death toll claimed by ovarian cancer could be halved in 10 years, campaigners believe.
One of the ways you can get involved to raise funds is by hosting a tea party. TV presenter Lorraine Kelly, the appeal's ambassador, said: "I've spearheaded the Make Time for Tea campaign for four years because I passionately support the aims of the charity.
"Just put on the kettle and make a cup of tea. It won't take too much time or effort, and you really could make a difference."
Pharmacy chain Boots is involved again this year, donating 10 per cent of the proceeds from sales of its range of afternoon tea treats to the Eve Appeal.
Teapot key rings, costing 2, are also available at stores.
To find out more about the campaign, visit its website here.
> Next page - a survivor's story >
A SURVIVOR'S STORY
Anne Clift, 54, of Boldon Colliery, is mum to twins Gemma and Glenn, 25, and is married to Dave, 55.
Anne's menopause started when she was just 35, and when she was 49 her periods stopped.
In late 2007 she began to have some bleeding, and by January 2008 it had become quite heavy.
She went to see her GP, and was sent to South Tyneside District Hospital for a scan, which showed she had a cyst in her ovary.
She was given a full hysterectomy on her children's 25th birthday, June 20.
However, tests on her ovaries after their removal revealed there was some cancerous growth inside the cyst, leaving Anne terrified for her future.
She said: "I cried all the time. If it wasn't for my family, especially my sisters Irene and Jean, my husband, my children, niece Michelle and friend Denise, I would have done nothing, as I was really scared.
"I thought I was going to die. I was scared, as my mum died of stomach cancer four years before."
Anne was transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead, where part of her lymph nodes and omentum – the fatty layer that covers the abdominal organs – were removed.
She was finally given the all-clear in August last year.
Now back at work caring for vulnerable adults in the community, Anne said: "If I hadn't had my hysterectomy, I would have died. I'm extremely lucky.
"If you see anything unusual, go and see your doctor. It's not half as bad as you think it's going to be. Now I go and have a blood test, for the CA125 protein, every three months."
Her relieved daughter Gemma said: "She wouldn't listen and was crying at first, but the day she came home from the hospital was the best day of my life.
"She's a different person, always happy and smiling. She's got so much energy she makes me tired."
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Weather for South Shields
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
