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BEAT ovarian cancer with Ovacome

Help us raise awareness of ovarian cancer!

logoOvacome is calling on its members to get behind our biggest symptoms awareness campaign to date.

In 2008 Ovacome, working in collaboration with other women's health charities, convened the UK's first symptoms consensus conference. Leading clinicians and researchers alongside cancer charities and women affected by the disease debated the evidence and experiences of ovarian cancer. This resulted in agreement that the following three symptoms are more frequent in women diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

  • Persistent pelvic and abdominal pain
  • Increased abdominal size/persistent bloating - not bloating that comes and goes
  • Difficulty eating and feeling full quickly

These symptoms are frequently experienced by women, however when they are experienced frequently, persistantly and severely the likelihood of ovarian cancer increases.

As part of Ovacome's ongoing campaigning to make women and healthcare professionals aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer, Ovacome launched the BEAT campaign in ovarian cancer awareness month 2010, a country-wide initiative to encourage women and healthcare professionals to recognise the symptoms of ovarian cancer.

The BEAT ovarian cancer campaign is the first to engage GPs, women and ovarian cancer charities around the world. It has as its centre piece an easy to remember acronym:

B for bloating that is persistent and doesn't come and go;
E for eating less and feeling fuller;
A for abdominal pain; and
T for telling your GP.

We are urging all our members and their friends and family to ask their GP's surgery or local health clinic to sign up to the campaign by becoming a BEAT friendly surgery; displaying the BEAT poster and encouraging women with symptoms to come forward.

There are many others ways that you can get involved in the BEAT campaign, from holding an awareness raising event to fundraising: click here to find out what you can do.