Life

Women still in dark over ovarian cancer

Feeling bloated, losing your appetite and needing to go to the loo frequently are common experiences for many women - but they can be indicators of a fatal illness. Ahead of Ovarian Cancer Awareness month in March, Jenny Lee reports on a disease that claims the lives of more than 100 women in Northern Ireland each year

WOMEN'S lives are being cut short in Northern Ireland due to delays in diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

It is the deadliest of all the gynaecological cancers, with deaths from ovarian cancer nearly four times more common than those from cervical cancer. Around 178 women are being diagnosed with the condition annually across Northern Ireland - 119 die.

The UK five-year survival rates are among the lowest in Europe at 36 per cent, with women in Northern Ireland the most unaware when it comes to recognising the symptoms of ovarian cancer.

More worryingly, research by the charity Target Ovarian Cancer showed that 37 per cent of women in Northern Ireland are not at all confident about identifying the symptoms - a significantly higher figure than the UK average of 23 per cent.

The survey showed that a massive 47 per cent of women here believe a smear test used to detect cervical cancer can also detect ovarian cancer.

The breast cancer movement which developed in the 1980s and 1990s has made a tremendous impact, with survival rates from

that disease soaring. From a young age girls know of the need to check their breasts for lumps.

However, there has been little corresponding progress with regard to ovarian cancer, a condition for which there have been no new life-extending treatments in more than 20 years. Target Ovarian Cancer says that if the achievements in breast cancer treatment in that period were matched in ovarian cancer, more than 3,000 more women would survive each year in the UK.

While the danger signs of ovarian cancer aren't as obvious, contrary to early opinion that it was a 'silent killer', key symptoms have been identified that could highlight the danger. These include a chronically bloated stomach, abdominal pain, feeling full quickly and changes in toilet habits.

Misdiagnosis is common - with 30 per cent of women misdiagnosed with having Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), 15 per cent with ovarian cysts and 13 per cent with a urinary infection.

Women diagnosed at the earliest stage of ovarian cancer should have a five-year-survival rate of 90 per cent - in Northern Ireland it is just 36 per cent.

One local campaigner who has given her all to raising awareness of the disease in Northern Ireland in Una Crudden.

Diagnosed in December 2009. She had been attending the doctor for three months and, like many others, she was told she had IBS. Three months on, Una was still suffering excruciating pain in her pelvic area. During an emergency appointment an area of swelling was located and she was referred to the Lagan Valley Hospital where she was found to have a 13-inch tumour.

Una was given between three and five years to live. She is now in her fourth year and has completed her fourth course of chemotherapy. Within a four-mile radius of her Poleglass home, four other women who were all initially misdiagnosed with IBS by different doctors, were diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the same time. Una is the sole survivor.

The death of one of these women in particular, a 36-year-old mother of four children between the ages of three and 10, had a profound impact upon Una. "I sang at her funeral four weeks before Christmas. Her four wee children were sitting in the front seat. I looked at them and it broke my heart. At that moment I knew I had to do something. I lifted the phone and rang the media." Research has shown that your risk of ovarian cancer may be lowered by taking the contraceptive pill, having children and breastfeeding. However, all women are at risk and Una, who has five children and six grandchildren, has done all three of these things. "I now believe I was meant to take this disease. I believe the Holy Spirit has led me to do this work to help save others lives."

A determined campaigner, Una has been relentless in highlighting the symptoms of ovarian cancer through seeking press coverage, personally handing out leaflets and political pressure.

She was delighted when in March 2013 Northern Ireland health minister Edwin Poots passed a motion in the assembly for a public ovarian cancer awareness campaign.

PICTURE: Hugh Russell

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