In England, Postal Code Determines Ovarian Cancer Survival Rates

When it comes to ovarian cancer, there’s a strange predictor of whether or not a woman will survive ovarian cancer: Her postal code. A new study found correlations between where a woman lives and whether or not she’ll survive for five years after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. According to the Daily Mail,

“A postcode lottery in ovarian cancer care means women in some parts of the country have vastly better survival rates than others.

Analysis of NHS data reveals a 40 per cent gulf in five-year survival rates between different areas of England.

In Birmingham and South East London – the best performing parts of the country – up to 49 in every 100 women will survive for more than five years after diagnosis.

In Kent and Sussex, however, as few as 35 women will survive for the same period – a 40 per cent difference.

The Target Ovarian Cancer charity blamed the variation on a lack of awareness of early symptoms among patients and their GPs, and poor access to cutting-edge treatments.

They warned that patients’ chances of getting on a medical trial – the way to get the most modern medicines – varied from 65 per cent in some parts of Britain to just 3 per cent in others.

But the charity also warned that some GPs cannot spot the early signs of ovarian cancer, which markedly reduces a woman’s chance of survival, and not all have access to the best blood tests.

A spokesman for the charity said: ‘We know we have a huge problem with late diagnosis – more than 1,000 women die each year within two months of their diagnosis.

‘In addition, almost a third of women are diagnosed in A&E and three-quarters of women are diagnosed once the cancer has already spread, making it much harder to treat.”

Read the entire article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3135750/Why-woman-s-postcode-determine-chance-beating-ovarian-cancer-Birmingham-London-40-likely-survive-Kent-Sussex.html

Discovering Which Ovarian Cancer Treatments Don’t Work

70% of women who develop ovarian cancer have what’s called high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma, or HSC - the ovarian cancer that’s the most malignant. 80,000 women around the world die from HSC each year. That number hasn’t moved in decades despite other advances in cancer treatments. In many cases, this is because women with HSC don’t respond to chemotherapy. After treatment is done, the tumors may come back within a matter of weeks or months. According to Medical News Today,

“Co-senior author and professor David Bowtell, of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, says our current knowledge is not good enough to make effective clinical decisions about how to deal with ovarian cancer that returns after treatment:

"For decades clinicians around the world have watched HSCs shrink under attack from chemotherapy, before returning aggressively months or years later."

In their paper, he and his colleagues describe how they completely sequenced the genomes of 114 HSC samples from 92 patients and found several clues about how the aggressive cancer changes from initially being vulnerable, to eventually becoming highly resistant to chemotherapy.

The samples were collected from the patients at various stages in disease progression - some at diagnosis, some following successful and unsuccessful treatment, and others immediately after death.

First genetic map of how HSC ovarian cancer evolves in response to chemotherapy

Prof. Bowtell explains that by completely sequencing the genomes from samples taken at different stages of the disease, for the first time we have a map of how HSC evolves under the selective pressure of the chemotherapy.

The results reveal at least four genetic changes that the cancer undergoes to evade initially effective chemotherapy. Prof. Bowtell describes them:

"In two of the mechanisms, cancer cells find a way of restoring their ability to repair damaged DNA and thereby resist the effects of chemotherapy; in another, cancer cells 'hijack' a genetic switch that enables them to pump chemotherapy drugs out of harm's way.

A further mechanism sees the molecular structure of the cancer tissue shift and reshape, such that sheets of 'scar tissue' appear to block chemotherapy from reaching its target."

The researchers say this is the first time that the complex disease has been mapped at this level of detail, and believe their findings point to a range of new strategies that could be used to improve prospects for patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.”

Read the entire article here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/294575.php

3 Statistics Every Person Should Know About Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer may not be the most prevalent cancer in women, but it’s still important that all people, men and women alike, understand the impact of the disease. That’s why we want to take the time to spotlight important statistics about ovarian cancer from OvarianCancer.org:

“Ovarian cancer accounts for approximately three percent of cancers in women.

While the 11th most common cancer among women, ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among women, and is the deadliest of gynecologic cancers. Mortality rates are slightly higher for Caucasian women than for African-American women.

A Woman’s Lifetime Risk:

A woman’s lifetime risk of developing invasive ovarian cancer is 1 in 75. A woman’s lifetime risk of dying from invasive ovarian cancer is 1 in 102.

Age:

Ovarian cancer rates are highest in women aged 55-64 years. The median age at which women are diagnosed is 63, meaning that half of women are younger than 63 when diagnosed with ovarian cancer and half are older.

The median age of death from ovarian cancer is 71. Ovarian cancer survival rates are much lower than other cancers that affect women. Five-year survival rates are commonly used to compare different cancers. The relative five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer is 44.2 percent. Survival rates vary greatly depending on the stage of diagnosis.  Women diagnosed at an early stage—before the cancer has spread—have a much higher five-year survival rate than those diagnosed at a later stage. Approximately 15 percent of ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed early with early stage disease.”

Ovarian cancer is so devastating because it often masquerades as other illnesses or diseases until it may be too late. That’s why it’s so important to dedicate time, energy, and money to fighting ovarian cancer.

Learn more facts about ovarian cancer at OvarianCancer.org: http://www.ovariancancer.org/about/statistics/

Infertility and Ovarian Cancer

As part of treating ovarian cancer, many women lose one or both ovaries. In either case, women who’ve been treated for ovarian cancer may be infertile. While many women who develop ovarian cancer are past the age when they can have children, not everyone is. Cobie Smulders is a celebrity example of a person who had ovarian cancer, but went on to have children.

Because every case is different, women with ovarian cancer may want to know their options. Fortunately, there could be many different venues for women with ovarian cancer to maintain fertility. Here is some information on how ovarian cancer can affect fertility in women from the University of Rochester Medical Center:

“Fertility refers to your ability to produce children. Some women who are treated for ovarian cancer still maintain their fertility, while others don’t.

You may still be able to become pregnant if you have only one ovary removed to treat the cancer. Keeping your fertility options while maintaining the healing potential of the treatment required for ovarian cancer can often be a complicated management decision. It is very important that your particular findings be put into context by an expert. Gynecologic oncologists are subspecialists with advanced training in the diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance of female cancers including ovarian cancer.

You may be infertile, meaning you cannot become pregnant without medical intervention, if you had any of these treatments for ovarian cancer:

Surgery to remove both of your ovaries.

Chemotherapy. Many chemotherapy drugs can cause the menstrual cycle to stop and disrupt the function of your ovaries.

Radiation directed at your pelvic area. Radiation can affect your ovaries’ ability to produce a mature egg.

If you had any of these treatments and you want to have children, see a reproductive endocrinologist. This is a doctor who specializes in infertility treatment. A multidisciplinary team approach, which includes a gynecologic oncologist and a reproductive endocrinologist, may be required.”

Learn more about treatment options by reading the entire article here: http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=34&ContentID=19758-1