Health News / April 2008
Stepping Forward - Ovarian Cancer Awareness
West Virginia Association for Family & Community Education has received an educational grant from Reaching Out…Raising Ovarian Cancer Awareness in WV and the WV Comprehensive Cancer Program in collaboration with the WV Division of Tobacco Prevention. The award is in the amount of $2,500.00 Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers. In West Virginia, cancer of the ovary is the 6th leading cause of cancer incidence and the 4th leading cause of cancer mortality for women (West Virginia Cancer Registry 1999-2003).
The high mortality associated with this cancer is due in large part to the late diagnosis of the disease, when it is already in the advanced stages and has spread to other abdominal organs. This is why it is called the disease that just “whispers.”
A woman’s risk for developing ovarian cancer increases with age, with approximately two-thirds of ovarian cancer occurring in women 55 years and older (American Cancer Society 2006). This risk is particularly important to WV women, as one of the oldest populations in the nation, where 40% of the states residents are over the age of 45 (U.S. Census Bureau).
Women who are 45 years of age and older are the target audience for this grant. Pleasants County was the site for an educational session in March. Another aspect of this project included creating a flyer, that was mailed to 100 area health care professionals in Wood and Pleasants County, that could be posted in their exam rooms.. The flyer encouraged patients to ask their health care provider to “ask” about the symptoms ovarian cancer. The new consensus statement on the symptoms of ovarian cancer says:
1. Bloating
2. Pelvic or Abdominal Pain
3. Difficulty Eating or Feeling Full
Quickly
4. Urinary Symptoms (Urgency or Frequency)
It is our hope that this flyer will stimulate patients to ask their doctors about their risk for and the symptoms of ovarian cancer. Asking these questions can save your life.
For more information on ovarian and other cancers go to www.cancer.gov the National Cancer Institute’s web site or call the Cancer Information Service at 1-800-422-6237. Check with your health care provider for more resources.
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