Information for healthcare professionals
Ovarian cancer symptoms awareness
There are many
myths about ovarian cancer - one of the most damaging being that
symptoms only present in advanced disease. In fact 89% of women at
stage 1 and 2 experienced symptoms of the disease. (Goff 2004)
In 2008 Ovacome, in collaboration with the Eve Appeal, convened
the UKs first consensus meeting on the signs and symptoms of
ovarian cancer. Up until that point, there was no cross community
agreement on the presentation of the disease. The Department of
Health, Royal colleges, professional organizations and all
charities concerned attended. The resultant document (Ovacome) was
used as a foundation for the DoH key messages which were
distributed last year. (DoH)
Ovacome have designed the BEAT campaign as a method for making
these key messages easier to understand.
B - is for Bloating - it's persistent and doesn't come
and go
E - is for Eating less - difficulty eating and
feeling full more quickly than you used to
A - is for Abdominal and pelvic pain you feel
most days
T - is for Talking; tell your GP
As a rule of thumb, if women regularly experience any of the
three BEAT signs of ovarian cancer most days - and that this is not
normal for her - she should see her GP. It is unlikely that these
symptoms are caused by the disease, but it is important to get
ovarian cancer ruled out.
The campaign has been adopted across the English speaking
world.
The other charities Ovacome is working with are:
Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (US)
Ovarian Cancer Canada
Silver Ribbon Foundation, New Zealand
Ovarian Cancer Australia.
These charities will use the BEAT checklist to develop their own
national campaigns.
Professor Mike Richards, National Cancer director has added his
support to the campaign saying "I warmly welcome Overcome's BEAT
symptoms awareness campaign. We know that public awareness of the
symptoms of ovarian cancer is currently low. I very much hope that
this campaign will lead to earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer
thereby saving women's lives."
How Primary Care can help
We fully appreciate that ovarian cancer is a rarity in everyday
practice. It is estimated that a GP will see a case every 5 years.
We make this clear to our members and in our press briefings,
however our 2006 survey of 400 women (the largest ever survey of
women with ovarian cancer in the UK) demonstrated a patient delay
of 5 weeks and a primary care delay of 12. The average number of
visits was 4 before an appropriate referral. In over a third of
cases, the diagnosis was made elsewhere (A&E, Gastroenterology
etc)
The recent Eurocare data tells us that whilst the UK has poor 5
year survival against the European average, we have even worse 1
year survival. This is indicative of late diagnosis. Professor
Colman estimates that around 500 more women each year die from
ovarian cancer than would have done so if they had lived in some of
the better performing EU states
One of the key stumbling blocks that we have identified is the
issue of the differential diagnosis. In many cases, women were
reluctant to go back to their GP having been told that their
symptoms were due to something else. The women needed the surgery
to be more proactive about coming back if things didn't improve. As
one woman put it - "If the tablets didn't work, I guess I was just
going to have to get on with it"
To help resolve these issues, Ovacome are doing several
things.
• A PR and general awareness campaign.
• Wide distribution of BEAT materials
• A GP surgery poster, specifically sending the message that the
practice want to know.
• Ovacome also have trained volunteers who may be avalaible to
attend GP education events.
Ovacome is enouraging all GP's surgeries and healthcare centres
around the UK to display a BEAT poster in their reception or
waiting room, letting their patients know that they are a BEAT
friendly surgery, and asking women to come forward and tell their
GPs if they are experiencing any of the symptoms of ovarian cancer
listed.
A copy of the poster has been sent out with the Spring 2010
issue of the Ovacome magazine so our members around the country can
take them into their local health centres; alternatively you can
order one for your surgery or clinic by calling the Ovacome office
on 020 7299 6654 or downloading the PDF.
Download poster for GP's
here
Ovacome invite you to become a BEAT friendly surgery. In doing so
you will be showing your community that you care, that you welcome
discussion on the subject.
Ovacome will be heralding practices with a wall of honour on its
website and in our quartery magazine. To join all you need do
is
• Display the poster
• Phone us on 0207 299 6651, and ask to be added or email us on
ovacome@ovacome.org.uk
You may wish to discuss the campaign during you practice meetings
or suggest Ovacome as supporters of your training activities.
Thank you for your support!
References
Ovacome 2008 - /media/10858/consensus_statement.pdf
DoH - 2009
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_110534
Goff 2004 - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/291/22/2705