Nineteen years after her diagnosis, ovarian cancer survivor Margaret Rose told an Ovarian Cancer Awareness Day leaders forum today the reason the disease isn’t talked about as much as other women’s health issues is because “not many of us survive”.
An average of 1200 Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, and of those, 90 per cent die from the disease.
Related: Why ovarian cancer is so difficult to diagnose
But researchers are making significant progress towards a blood test for the early detection of ovarian cancer that could help turn those figures around.
A team from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, led by Dr Goli Samimi, is developing a test that would enable doctors to screen women at high-risk of getting ovarian cancer, such as those with a family history of the cancer.
Dr Samimi said non-invasive screen-testing was important for high-risk groups, as the extremely general nature of the disease’s symptoms — bloating, change in appetite, fatigue — meant the cancer is often overlooked in the early stages due to a lack of warning signs.
“Early detection is key to improving survival,” Dr Samimi said.
“Ovarian cancer is mostly diagnosed at a late stage, when it has already spread beyond the ovaries and into peritoneal space by the time patients are diagnosed.
“At this stage, complete removal of the tumour is very challenging, which is why only 20 per cent of women survive five years after diagnosis.”
The technique being used by the researchers is unique and a “world first”.
“It is clear that developing a test to facilitate early detection is our best chance of reducing the toll of this terrible disease,” Dr Samimi said.
Ms Rose, who chairs the Garvan Institute ovarian cancer research fun, said the benefits of an early detection test would be “enormous”.
“We really need to focus our energies and resources on ovarian cancer because there are no clear defining symptoms, there is no screening test, hundreds of Australian women are affected every year and the survival rates are so horrendous,” she said.
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The present CA125 blood test provides inconclusive indications of ovarian cancer, and only an operation can ascertain the presence of the cancer, but research by Ovarian Cancer Australia shows three out of five women incorrectly believe the cancer is detected by a pap smear and more than half believe the cervical cancer vaccine also protects against ovarian cancer.
The organisation is raising funds for research projects like Dr Samimi’s early detection test by selling teal ribbons from stores nationwide and through www.ovariancancer.net.au .
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