What is Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month?
September is Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month. During the month, charities raise awareness of gynaecological cancers, which includes: ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, uterine cancer, vaginal cancer and vulvar cancer.
Ovarian cancer is the UK's deadliest gynaecological disease, taking the lives of more women per year than all the other gynae cancers combined.
The current ovarian cancer survival rate is lower than breast cancer in the 1970s. It's a disease that's often overlooked, misunderstood or misdiagnosed. This is why we need to level up.
Get involved this Gynae Cancer Awareness Month:
Understanding Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer often goes undetected until it’s advanced, making early detection and awareness crucial. Our goal is to use gynaecological cancer awareness month to educate the public about the symptoms, risk factors, and importance of regular check-ups to catch the disease early.
Adele: I assumed that a smear would discover all gynaecological cancers
Early in 2007 I asked for an extra smear test. Because of my breast cancer history I was worried that my symptoms were cancer-related. I incorrectly assumed that a cervical smear would discover all gynaecological cancers. I now know that a cervical smear only looks for cervical cancer.
Our work on ovarian cancer screening
Professor Ahmed Ahmed talks about his work into discovering how ovarian cancer starts in the hopes to develop an ovarian cancer screening program and mirror the success of cervical cancer screening.
