Ovarian Cancer Drug 'Heralds New Era Of Hope'

Louise Bayne, chief executive of the charity Ovacome said: "This heralds a new era of hope for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, who have previously been faced with a devastating diagnosis plus a lack of innovative treatments. We are delighted that Avastin is now available to women across the country."

You can download the full press release on Avastin from pharmaceutical company Roche here (PDF).

You can watch Ovacome member Sue talk about her experience with Avastin on ITV's Daybreak here (about 1h in).

Listen to Louise Bayne and Sue talk about Avastin and ovarian cancer on BBC Sussex here (about 1h 52m in).

Listen to Dr Tim Perrin talk about Avastin on Woman's Hour here.

Click here to download the PDF flyer.

http://www.express.co.uk/features/view/294608/How-a-fluttery-tummy-could-mean-cancer

For more information please contact Ruth Payne on 020 7299 6650 or at r.payne@ovacome.org.uk Wed - Fri.

Thanks!

We would like to wish all our members, friends and supporters a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

If you would like to help, please click here to take the survey.

Thank you for your help!

Meetings take place on the 1st Wednesday of every month from 6.30 - 8.30pm and offers speakers, support and the chance for discussion and connection with other young ovarian cancer patients.

October's speaker will be discussing the menopause.

You do not need to book a place, just turn up on the night or give Ovaconme a call on 0845 371 0554 and let us know you'll be coming. Partners and friends are welcome and refreshments will be provided.

www.cancercarecongress.com

Following 2010's congress which attracted over 200 attendees and more than 50 expert presenters, join the UK's leading cancer policy makers and practitioners at the 2nd Annual Cancer Care Congress 2011.

For the full agenda, visit www.cancercarecongress.com. Learn the latest innovations, challenges and policy repercussions in cancer care across the whole pathway of cancer from early diagnosis to end of life care. Discover in-depth analysis on the new commissioning process, a focus on clinical cancer drug research and details of the Cancer Drug Fund.

Hear from over 50 cancer care pioneers including:

• Professor Sir Mike Richards, National Clinical Director for Cancer and End of Life Care, Department of Health
• Dr David Gonzalez de Castro, Head of Molecular Diagnostics, The Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
• Anthony Brzezicki, GP, South London NHS
• Professor Adrian Newland CBE, Medical Director, North East London Cancer Network
• Kate Caston, Director, East Midlands Specialised Commissioning Group
• Jane Sykes, Acting Director of Nursing & Governance, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
• Denis Remedios, Chair of the RCR Guidelines Working Party and Consultant Radiologist Northwick Park Hospital
• Dr Jane Povey, Clinical Engagement Director Department of Health
• Professor Peter Johnson, Chief Clinician, Cancer Research UK
• Dr Chris Bradley, Consultant Medical Oncologist & Lead Clinician for Cancer Services, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NH Foundation Trust and Chair, Acute Oncology Group, Yorkshire Cancer Network

Download the current programme here.

**Please quote Ovacome's unique VIP code DIS-J102-OVA-25 when booking to claim 25% discount off the standard delegate fee. Call 0845 056 8299 or email cancercarecongress@emap.com to book**

"This new discovery is greatly welcomed by the ovarian cancer community, as it helps to unravel a little more of the complicated ovarian cancer story and offers hope for better treatments in the future."

Read more...

Join the Ovacome team and walk or run the 5km and raise sponsorship money to help Ovacome to continue to support all those affected by ovarian cancer.

It costs £15 each (£5 of which is donated to Ovacome). Once registered, we will provide all the fundraising advice and support you might need, including t-shirts and tips on how to collect sponsorship.

To register, go to http://www.womenschallenge.co.uk/home and don't forget to choose Ovacome as your selected charity - or call Sonia on 020 7299 6654 for more details.

Refreshments will be provided. Please call the Ovacome office on 0845 3710554 for further information.

Join our 2012 Olympic event!

Refreshments will be provided. Please call the Ovacome office on 0845 3710554 for further information.

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Click for more details.

Read more at The Telegraph.

An initial meeting will take place at the Central London offices of Ovacome 1st Floor, Butler House, 177-178 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7NY on Wednesday 19th January 2011 at 6 for 6:30 pm (and will run until 8/8:30pm). It is open to ladies with a diagnosis at age 45 or younger at any stage in their cancer journey.

The aim of the evening is to provide a support network for young women who have or have had ovarian cancer. It will be a chance to meet other young women who have faced a similar diagnosis and many of the same challenges; a place to exchange experiences, advice and support. It will be a friendly, informal meeting, led by an experienced Support Line Nurse. Tea and cakes will be provided!

We are also interested in hearing from ladies who are outside the London area as we are looking into the possibility of providing a conference call facility for all those scattered across the country who wish to join the network.

If the evening proves popular Ovacome would like to offer this service on a regular basis. Ideas for future meetings include informal talks by experts in HRT, adoption and surrogacy as well as reflexology, deep relaxation techniques and other complimentary holistic therapies.

Due to financial and practical limitations the future of the group very much depends on inital take up. Ovacome are only able to hold the meeting if at least 6 ladies put their names down to attend. So if this sounds like the haven you've been searching for contact Ruth Payne at Ovacome on 020 7299 6650 or email r.payne@ovacome.org.uk to register your interest and secure your place at the meeting.

We would like to wish all our friends and supporters a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

The trial, which was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of ­Cancer, involved 1,442 women in the UK and other European ­countries who had gone into remission following treatment for advanced ovarian cancer.

Ovacome, the ovarian cancer ­support network, welcomes the study, but has some reservations.

Chief executive Louise Bayne says: "It means patients can delay treatment to a time that suits them. However, I do have concerns that at a time when hospitals are under tight financial constraints, some may interpret this wrongly as a green light to withdraw ­follow-up services and monitoring for women who have been through ovarian cancer."

Read more at The Daily Mail

Please click here to view the designs and for ordering information.

We have been developing new and exciting interactive community functions over the past few months and we're really pleased to invite you to join our brand new online community group 'My Ovacome' which we have developed with our partners at HealthUnlocked. It has been designed to give additional support and information to all those affected by ovarian cancer.

At My Ovacome you can ask any questions you may have and answer other people's questions, write a personal or public blog, keep a calendar of your important events and dates, read about the latest ovarian cancer and Ovacome news in the Ovacome blog and answer our latest Big Question.

It's very simple to use. To join just click the link and follow the three simple steps to creating an account:

- Visit My Ovacome

- Submit a username (nickname).

- Submit your email address (twice to make sure you type it right).

- Submit a password (twice to make sure you type it right.

Then you will be sent a verification email. (If you don't get it within two or 3 minutes it's worth checking your spam or junk mail). If you have any questions please call us on 020 7299 6654 or email us at ovacome@ovacome.org.uk

Thank you for being a part of the Ovacome forum for the past year and we look forward to seeing you in My Ovacome!

The Ovacome Team

A truly unique and stunning venue the glamorous St Pancras Grand Champagne Bar is Europe's longest and is situated below the magnificent Barlow Shed, giving full view of the amazing architecture of this historic Victorian station as well as the modern speed of EuroStar.

1230 The Women's Company is very honoured to be joined by our special guest, renowned film, stage, TV and radio star Jenny Agutter whose huge success in the Railway Children film encouraged us to link this year's theme to railways. We are proud to have Ovacome as our Charity Partner - the charity supporting those affected by ovarian cancer - for the fourth year.

If you have joined us in previous years at our charity events you will know that the entertainment is always superb - this year is no different, and in fact the best yet, but it needs to remain a surprise! You will love it!

This is a great opportunity to network and have some fun in a truly amazing setting, all in an excellent cause.

Fabulous Raffle Prizes, Hand massages, goody bag items and special offers from Neal's Yard - proceeds from this events go to Ovacome.

Booking deadline - 20 August. For further details and to book visit: www.1230.co.uk or email: events@1230.co.uk or call: 020 8650 8015

You can watch the video on the ITN website here.

The OvPlex test is available privately via Spire Hospitals. For more information visit www.OvPlex.co.uk

On the 5th September 2010 the Adidas Women's 5k Challenge will be held in Hyde Park, London. Team Ovacome (from the office!) run this event every year and we always love to meet all the women running and walking in memory of loved ones and to help raise awareness of ovarian cancer.

Enter online at the link below or simply request an entry form from the Ovacome office on 020 7299 6654. Entry costs £15, £5 of which goes direct to Ovacome.

http://www.womenschallenge.co.uk/home

It is less clear, however, whether we should advocate diagnostic genetic testing in healthy people, unless they are at high risk. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) has recommended genetic testing for conditions such as breast cancer, where the lifetime risk is one in three or higher, based on family history of breast and ovarian cancers. On average, the lifetime risk is one in nine.

Read more at The Telegraph...

Janelle Johnson
Sarah Hanness
Laura Tollerton
Sarah Rogers
Karen Summerville
Rachel Baker
Alison Clarke
Edward Vincent
Richard Hawkes
Simon Leeson
Raymond Gee

Please note that if you would like to run for Ovacome in 2011 we have a very limited number of Golden Bond places and would therefore ask that anyone interested tries to obtain a place through the general London Marathon ballot first before applying to us.

Who can participate?
Anyone who (a) has been treated for cancer or is currently being treated for cancer and (b) is experiencing fatigue.

What does participation involve?
Participation involves filling in a number of questionnaires about your fatigue, the factors you believe contribute to your fatigue, and the coping strategies you use to manage this symptom.

How can I participate?
If you would like to participate please complete this online questionnaire: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CancerFatigueStudy

If you would prefer to complete the questionnaire in hard copy or if you would like further information, please contact the researcher: Maria Pertl (Phone: 01 896 3083 / E-mail: pertlm@tcd.ie).

Most incredibly of all, I have my baby daughter Molly, who is now nine months old. I'm so lucky. Having a baby after ovarian cancer is rare and especially so after having it twice. Molly did more than just make me a mum she also stopped people looking at me as simply a cancer patient.

Read more at The Daily Express...

Read more in Fabulous magazine...

Diana met Ovacome founder Sarah Dickinson at the first Ovacome AGM in 1996 and has been a supporter ever since. She has written several poems for friends affacted by cancer and this book, dedicated to a friend who died of cancer eight years ago,  is her new collection focussing on love and the loss lof love.

Ovacome will receive a percentage of sales from the book which can be purchased from the Ovacome office for £10.98 including P&P. Please contact the office or send a cheque made payable to 'Ovacome' to the office address if you would like a copy.

A joint British-Canadian trial of the new technique, known as intraperitoneal chemotherapy, will be launched at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Read more at The Independent...

But thanks to a charity donation of a scalp cooler the 61-year-old from Surrey was able to keep the vast majority of her hair. The machines work by lowering the temperature of the head and scalp by a few degrees before, during and after chemotherapy.

Read more at the BBC...

"This is helping GPs because none of us can retain this sort of information [about cancer symptoms] and having to retain it for bowel cancer, lung cancer and ovarian cancer, as well as for heart disease, it would take a remarkable human brain to be able to do that, so why not get computers to support it?" said Professor Mike Richards, the government's cancer tsar.

Read more at The Guardian

We would like to wish all our supporters a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

""I was just 40 when I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. That's pretty unusual - only 15% of cases occur in women below the age of 50. It's one of those diseases that's completely unsexy. It lacks the trendy factor: we don't have a poster girl like Kylie Minogue. Ask a bunch of women what to look for with breast cancer and most will know at least a little. Ask them about ovarian cancer and the majority won't even have heard of it, let alone know what the symptoms are. I was one of those. "

Read more at The Times...

See the whole article here.

Penelope's experience was typical. The only sign something was wrong was a bloated stomach. But she was one of the lucky ones: a scan for an unrelated problem detected the rapidly-growing cancer early, saving her life.

Read more at the Daily Mail

Listen to her interview with BBC Northampton here

It will initially be targeted at lung, colorectal and ovarian cancers, which account for more than a third of cancer deaths and where late diagnosis is a particular problem.

Read more at BBC News...

"Ovacome welcomes this latest development, however we don't anticipate that this test will be available on the NHS for some time. If you have any questions or concerns about screening, please contact our nurses on 0845 371 0554."

For more information, visit the OvPlex website.

We would like your help in completing two quick online surveys. These surveys focus on what the barriers to your diagnosis were, and how we can remove them.

One called The Ovacome GP Experience Survey, which can be found here.

The second is called The Diagnosis Pathway Survey, which can be found here.

If you can, please do complete them both as they focus on different aspects of your diagnosis experiences.

The surveys are completely anonymous; we will not be able to trace the origins at all. Please do answer the questions as comprehensively as possible - the more we understand, the better we can use your experiences to help other women with ovarian cancer.

If you have any questions, please do feel free to call us or email us.

Thank you so much.

The study involved more than 4,000 UK women and collaboration between the Cancer Research UK Genetic Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge and University College, London.

Read more in The Mirror.

We are also pleased to be able to tell you that that all our fact sheets have now been crystal marked by the Plain English Campaign, an organisation dedicated to clear and concise information in plain English.

For a full list of subjects covered or to download any of the factsheets from our website, please click here.

You can also make a request by phone or post.

What is a low penetrance gene?

Dr James Mackay, Consultant Clinical Genetic Oncologist, explains that low penetrance genes slightly increase the risk of ovarian cancer, whereas high penetrance genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 increase the risk much more. If you imagine a room with 1000 women in it, and imagine they all had totally normal genes, over their lifetimes, 10 of the women in the room would get ovarian cancer. Now if you imagine that all the 1000 women had this new genetic 'SNP', then over a lifetime 14 of the women would get ovarian cancer. If you imagine that they all had a BRCA gene mutation, 400 of them would get ovarian cancer. So you can see that although this does increase the risk of ovarian cancer a little, it is a small increase compared to some of the major genetic detections we already know about. The really important thing about this study is that, as more low penetrance ovarian cancer genes are identified, a more tailored approach to screening could be provided.

www.womenschallenge.co.uk

Read more...

A spokesman for the Royal College of GPs said it was "extraordinarily difficult" to diagnose ovarian cancer at an early stage.

Read more at BBC News...

Sandra was a valued member of the Ovacome trustee board and will be greatly missed by all at Ovacome.

Read more...

Read more at guardian.co.uk ...

Read more at Times Online...

Read more at Sky News...

Listen to this programme here

Read more at guardian.co.uk...

Read more at NHS Choices...