Women and GPs should take bloating, abdominal pain and acid reflux more seriously, say ovarian cancer specialists concerned about late diagnosis of the killer disease.
Sometimes those are the symptoms of ovarian cancer, says Dr Robyn Sayer, an oncologist at the Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick, Sydney.
Every patient should be given the complete woman’s exam, she told a Teal Ribbon Day lunch at the NSW parliament on Wednesday.
This includes an abdominal and pelvic exam.
Any patient not given a full examination should ask for a referral to a gynaecologist or should see another GP, she said.
‘I hear time and time again from cancer patients that the doctor gave them a pill for acid reflux or something and sent them on their way.
‘GPs are the gatekeepers. I would just like them to have ovarian cancer on the list of possibilities, even though it is rare.’
She said GPs should also find out their patient’s family history of cancer, although 80 to 85 per cent of ovarian cancer cancer cases were random with no family history.
‘Women must listen to their bodies,’ said ovarian cancer survivor Margaret Rose, who hosted the Garvan Foundation lunch with NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner.
Ms Rose, 70, had been feeling tired and bloated for some time before her diagnosis 20 years ago.
But it was excruciating pain that eventually drove her to the doctor.
‘I had a couple of months where I knew something was wrong with me.
‘I was tired and I was getting this bloating. One day I just got a terrible pain, which was a lucky thing for me.
‘You normally don’t get pain from it,’ said Ms Rose.
Most women with the disease are diagnosed late, and only 43 out of 100 are alive after five years.
About 1000 Australians are expected to die from the disease in 2014.
That’s why Ms Rose, a property developer, is helping to fund promising Garvan research aimed at developing an early detection blood test.
‘Being a survivor I feel extraordinarily lucky.’
Garvan scientist Dr Goli Samimi is making progress with her research but says a viable test is about 10 years away.
‘The message in the meantime is the importance of awareness and early detection.
‘The symptoms are common in women. But it is worth being checked out if they persist.’
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