Why are we lagging behind other Countries in screening/treating this killer disease
Prioritising: Why are we lagging behind other... - My Ovacome
Prioritising
Written by
Sailor666
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Hi Sailor, my opinion is because its in an area that we are generally not encouraged to talk about ( down there!) Dont forget that its still a male dominated world,I've recently seen several ads for prostrate cancer, don't think I have ever seen one for ovarian cancer. When I was first diagnosed, it was when Jade Goody was going through her cancer journey, so there was more awareness of cervical cancer, but I never realised prior to that just how many female gynae cancers there was.
As I say, my opinion only, but I work in the NHS, a predominantly female profession, but even there, it's as though people don't want to know.
Best wishes
Sue
Are we,lagging behind I mean? I know our survival rates here for cancer generally are worse than many other European countries, but when it comes to OC, are we worse in finding it? And what are the other countries doing that we're not to detect it? After all, there is no definitive screening test for OC, and any symptoms are so vague they can easily be barely noticed or attributed to lots of other things instead, until the disease is advanced. I had no symptoms at all apart from occasional urinary frequency/urgency, which can easily be explained from being post menopausal, and I was already Stage 4b at diagnosis.
What I'm saying is, its difficult to raise awareness of OC when there are no reliable tests to see if you've got it or not... 'raising awareness' in those circumstances probably just means heightened fear levels and lots more 'worried well' going to the medics who still won't find it if its there...
One area where more awareness is called for, though, is among ordinary gynaecologists, consultant or otherwise - many women have stories of being seen by a Consultant gynae and being told they don't think there's anything to worry about, when there certainly is... that's what happened to me. I never knew there was such a thing as a Gynaecologist/Oncologist either, until I got cancer... perhaps those ordinary Gynaecologists should all have extra oncology training, especially the older ones who are Consultants.
As has been said. There is no definitive test for oc. CA125 can in some cases indicate but would give far too many false positives to be any good, especially as it is often raised for any inflammation.
In my sort of oc it is not usually raised at all. I know that other ladies with different oc types have had CA125 in the accepted normal range.
I am another one who did not have symptoms other than going to the loo a bit more but as I am overweight it would be expected.
Other than making people aware of possible symptoms it is difficult. There are a lot of cancers which I am sure those that have them would like definitive tests and more publicity.
This can make for overload of information unless it is personal.
In summary- no easy solution. Let’s hope someone comes up with that diagnosing test.
Best wishes
Fay
I'm in the US and it's the same here. The problem is others have said that OC usually presents few symptoms until it's advanced and symptoms it does present with are often mistaken for intestinal issues. However maybe if there was the kind of pressure exerted by the breast cancer community, something would be discovered.
In my humble observation the NHS is now a basket case - underfunded and unlimited immigration...(and an ageing population) leading to growing demand; no pay at use also means that GP surgeries are also too full of the ‘worried well’... I dont care how skilled a GP is (and ours are not!) but diagnosing possible cancer (or anything else serious) in a 3-5 minute appointment is neigh impossible...
Ordering diagnostic tests..? Dream on!
It needs massively more funding (Germany funds double the percentage of GDP than we do!) and dont let any well meaning tory politician blather about “poor management” being primarily at fault!
It completely missed my wife’s repeated symptoms of cancer for years.
It missed my embolism for 2 weeks and almost put me in a casket...
Its done exactly the same to many others we know...across various cancers...diagnostic tests for my wife’s complaints of likely cancer never even came up (which are cheap as chips vs advanced cancer treatment).
If your GP didnt at least do a CA125 and order an ultrasound they are likewise incompetent...
google.com/amp/s/amp.cancer...
(I would suspect a contrast MRI would be required for more accurate view, but that is a very expensive screening tool!)
Cant speak to treatment as thankfully we have work private cover and after those experiences we just use our useless doctors for referrals to actual specialists...(a really good physician here is worth their diagnostic weight in gold however!)
PS Either fund it properly or tear it down (which will cost far, far more), the status quo is falling apart - and those still backing the NHS as it is today are living in a dream world...
