UK women ‘unaware of ovarian cancer risks’

Women in the UK are at a heightened risk from ovarian cancer due to a general lack of awareness about the risks posed by the disease, according to an expert.

Peter Reynolds, chief executive of Ovarian Cancer Action, has suggested that women are not familiar with the symptoms associated with the disease, which means they are not visiting GPs to get the condition diagnosed early enough.

He pointed to the fact that the UK has among the lowest cancer survival rates in the developed world, with fewer than 40 per cent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer living beyond five years.

The expert stated that this is because cancers are being detected too late, when the condition has already developed to an advanced stage and moved beyond the ovary.

“There is a very real need to improve understanding through research and greater awareness of the symptoms to ensure more women survive an ovarian cancer diagnosis,” added Mr Reynolds.

According to Cancer Research UK statistics, there are around 6,850 new cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed in the UK each year.