John Baron MP supports greater awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms

MP backs Ovarian Cancer Action’s ‘Every Woman Should Remember’ online campaign

John Baron MP has today given his support to Ovarian Cancer Action’s ‘Every Woman Should Remember’ online campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer. It identifies the symptoms of ovarian cancer and encourages visitors to pass the pledge to remember the symptoms on to others via email or Facebook.

Ovarian cancer is the biggest gynaecological killer and the fifth most common cancer in women in the UK, affecting around 6,600 women every year. Awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer amongst women is low and survival from the disease is poor - with fewer than 40% of women surviving five years beyond diagnosis. Most women with ovarian cancer are only diagnosed when it is at an advanced stage and is difficult to treat. But if diagnosed at stage one, when the disease is contained in the ovary, women have up to 90% chance of survival.

John said:

“Any campaign that raises awareness of cancer symptoms is a great thing. This online campaign by Ovarian Cancer Action is the first of its kind and will hopefully encourage lots of people to pass on information and raise awareness.

“As Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer, I know how significant it can be to catch cancer early, so I hope this campaign will encourage women to go to their GP when the first signs appear which will increase their chance of survival dramatically.”