by One in four women with the deadliest form of ovarian cancer could have the disease detected early if symptoms such as feeling full quickly when eating were referred to a specialist more quickly, experts say.
Around 7,500 women in the UK are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year and only a third of these women are expected to live to the next decade.
Although treatment is possible, it often comes too late, partly because the early symptoms are so subtle.
Now scientists say there is evidence that symptoms of the disease, such as bloating and feeling full when eating, need to be urgently investigated as they can appear up to three years before diagnosis.
Although there is no national screening program for ovarian cancer, a procedure called “symptom-triggered testing” is intended to provide a faster blood and ultrasound test in women who may have symptoms.
One in four women with the deadliest form of ovarian cancer could have the disease detected early if symptoms such as feeling full quickly when eating were brought to a specialist more quickly, experts say.
In the UK, an average of 11 women die from the disease every day, or 4,000 a year. In the US, three times as many people die from it each year, figures show. When symptoms are caused by ovarian cancer, they are usually permanent. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that your GP arranges investigations if these symptoms occur 12 or more times a month.
However, experts say the system has never been tested and many GPs are under the impression that only women with advanced stages of ovarian cancer show symptoms.
However, a study of 1,741 patients using the fast-track procedure has demonstrated the benefit of such symptom-guided tests.
The study, published in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, found that 119 of these patients were diagnosed with high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
In about 25.2 percent of the group, the disease was detected in stage one or two, before the disease had spread to a large area or to other parts of the body.
Ninety-three percent of women diagnosed with stage one or two ovarian cancer survive more than five years. However, for women diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease, the survival rate drops to 13 percent.
In almost two-thirds of the women – 78 of 119 – the cancer was surgically removed, while 36 patients received chemotherapy before surgery.
Only five of the 119 women did not undergo any surgery at all.
Professor Sudha Sundar of the Pan Birmingham Gynaecological Cancer Centre and author of the study said the results showed the value of getting women with symptoms tested more quickly.
“Although it has been around since 2011, it was never really clear whether it was of benefit to patients,” she said.
“The medical community has always been somewhat uncertain about the usefulness of this procedure because it was believed that women with symptoms probably had advanced cancer.
“Our study has shown that you can detect it, but you can also detect it earlier.”
Professor Sundar added: “We know that this particular cancer, the most common form of ovarian cancer, has a tendency to spread into the abdomen.”
“A quarter of the women had stage one disease, which is fantastic. But even when the disease had already spread, we were able to show that the spread was moderate in the majority of women.
“This means that the cancer can be removed through a relatively uncomplicated operation.”
A new analysis has shown how many years of life the average cancer patient in the UK is likely to lose. The number of lives lost as a result of all cancers has risen from 13.4 in the 1980s to 14.1.
The 10-year survival rate for many common cancers is now over 50 percent, and experts believe further improvements are possible in the next decade.
“We have the potential to not only identify women with cancer, but also detect ovarian cancer at a stage where it makes a very big difference to the patient.”
She added that she hoped the findings would raise awareness so that more GPs would perform such tests for ovarian cancer and that women with possible symptoms would be encouraged to get screened.
“We hope these documents will increase awareness among primary care physicians to test for ovarian cancer when treating women with these symptoms, especially older women,” she said.
We also hope that women with these symptoms know something is wrong and speak to their GP.’
According to data from the charity Cancer Research UK, more than 4,000 women die from ovarian cancer in the UK every year.
It states that about one in ten cases of ovarian cancer is preventable, with obesity being one of the main risk factors.
According to the NHS, signs of ovarian cancer include bloating, abdominal pain, loss of appetite or feeling full quickly, urinary urgency or the need to urinate frequently, around 12 or more times a month.
Other possible signs include indigestion, constipation or diarrhea, back pain, fatigue, uncontrolled weight loss, and vaginal bleeding after menopause.
