One in four with lethal ovarian cancer catch disease early on fast-track pathway

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Women who have symptoms such as bloating, bowel changes, appetite changes, or abdominal pain should be prioritised for a blood test and ultrasound under guidelines (Alamy/PA)

A quarter of women with the most lethal form of ovarian cancer could have the disease caught in its earlier stages by being tested and fast-tracked for specialist care, a study has found.

It also meant patients whose cancer had already spread before diagnosis required “relatively straightforward” surgery to remove it.

Researchers said they hope the findings will raise awareness for more GPs to test for ovarian cancer and encourage women with symptoms to get them checked out.

There is no national screening programme for ovarian cancer in the UK, although a process known as symptom triggered testing was introduced in 2011.

Under these guidelines, women who have symptoms such as bloating, bowel changes, appetite changes, or abdominal pain should be prioritised for a blood test and ultrasound.

If the results are abnormal, they should be referred to hospital within two weeks.

However, Professor Sudha Sundar of the Pan Birmingham Gynaecological Cancer Centre in Birmingham, told the PA news agency that the method’s usefulness has “never really been clear-cut”.

She said: “Although this has existed since 2011, it’s never really been clear-cut if this is useful for patients.

“The medical community has always been a bit unsure about the utility of this, because the thinking is that women showing symptoms may probably have advanced cancer.

“What our study has shown is that, yes, you can pick it up, but you can also pick it up early.”

For the study, researchers analysed data from the Refining Ovarian Cancer Test accuracy Scores (ROCkeTS), a study recruiting from 24 hospitals in the UK.

Of the 1,741 patients on the fast-track pathway, 119 were diagnosed with high grade serous ovarian cancer.

Some 25.2% of the group had stages one or two of the disease.

Of the women diagnosed with stage one or two ovarian cancer, 93% go on to survive for more than five years. However, survival rates fall to 13% in those diagnosed when their disease is advanced.

Almost two-thirds of the women – 78 out of 119 – had surgery to remove as many cancer cells from the abdomen as possible, while 36 patients were given chemotherapy before surgery.

Five out of the 119 women did not undergo surgery at all.

Prof Sundar told PA: “We know this particular cancer, which is the most common form of ovarian cancer, tends to spread across the tummy.

“A quarter of women were stage one, which is fantastic, but even when it had spread, what we’ve been able to show is that the spread was moderate in the majority of women.

“The implication of that, is that they can have relatively straightforward surgery to remove the cancer.

“Potentially we are not just able to identify women with cancer, but pick up ovarian cancer at a stage where it makes a very big difference for the individual.”

Prof Sundar added that she hopes the findings, published in the International Journal of Gynaecological Cancer, will raise awareness to both GPs and patients about ovarian cancer.

According to Cancer Research UK, about 7,500 women are diagnosed with the disease every year.

“We’re hoping these papers will make GPs more aware to test for ovarian cancer when they see women with these symptoms, particularly older women,” she added.

“We also hope women who have these symptoms will know something is not right and will speak to their GP.”