Over 7,500 women are diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer every year in the UK.
If caught early, survival rates from the disease are very good. However, because it is so often caught late more than half of those diagnosed will not survive 5 years, and current statistics show that a woman dies of ovarian cancer every two hours in the UK.
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, which takes place in March and is backed by the charity Ovarian Cancer Action, is designed to improve these outcomes by raising awareness of the symptoms and encouraging anyone experiencing them to go and get them checked out.
The Richardson Brothers Foundation is supported these efforts by sharing information about the symptoms, alongside making a donation of £7,500 to Ovarian Cancer Action to highlight the scale of annual cases.
There are a lot of misconceptions and lack of knowledge around ovarian cancer. At the moment 90% of women don't know the four main symptoms. Many mistakenly think it is a symptomless disease and so it is wrongly referred to as the silent killer. One in four women mistakenly believe a cervical smear test will detect ovarian cancer.
The symptoms can also be symptoms of other, less serious, conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, ovarian cysts and polycystic ovary syndrome. The key message is that if you are experiencing them, while it doesn’t necessarily mean you have ovarian cancer, it is always worth seeing your GP.
For more information please visit the Ovarian Cancer Action website.
Main symptoms page: https://ovarian.org.uk/ovarian-cancer/ovarian-cancer-symptoms/
OCA symptoms diary - a helpful way to track symptoms for yourself and to share with a GP:
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