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
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