There needs to be better support for women with ovarian cancer

This week I met Target Ovarian Cancer at the launch of their state-of-the-nation Pathfinder study.

Women with ovarian cancer are left stranded without vital support at every turn, from diagnostic tests to access to nurses, according to Pathfinder.

Pathfinder 2016 found that:

"¢ Just one in five UK women (20 per cent) could name bloating as a major symptom of ovarian cancer, an alarmingly low rate of awareness.

"¢ Almost half of women (41 per cent) visited their GP three times or more before being referred for ovarian cancer tests, risking a delayed diagnosis.

"¢ Less than half of cancer nurses (46 per cent) think that their cancer unit has enough nurses to care for all the women being treated there.

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all the gynaecological cancers, with 15 per cent of women dying within two months of being diagnosed, and only a third of women surviving 10 years after their diagnosis.

Target Ovarian Cancer and women with ovarian cancer across the UK are calling on government and health bodies to improve services and invest to secure the futures of women with ovarian cancer today and those diagnosed tomorrow.

It is vital that all women with ovarian cancer get the care, support and new treatments that are needed, so that women's lives are transformed, now and in future.