Dawn Butler MP

 Dawn marked Ovarian Cancer Day in Parliament last week by wearing a white rose in the House of Commons to raise awareness for the disease.  Around 295,000+ women around the world are diagnosed annually with ovarian cancer, with 184,000+ deaths caused by ovarian cancer each year.  Ovarian cancer also has the lowest survival rate of all female cancers. Most women are diagnosed once the cancer has already spread, making it more difficult to treat.  Five-year ovarian cancer survival rates vary around the world, ranging from 30% to 45%. By comparison, five-year survival rates for women with breast cancer range from 80% to 90%.  As ovarian cancer is difficult to spot, Dawn also released a video to mark the date and raise awareness for the common symptoms for people to be aware of.  Dawn said:  

“I’m proud to have marked Ovarian Cancer Day by wearing my white rose in the House of Commons. Ovarian cancer is often quite difficult to spot. Sadly eleven women in the UK die every day from this disease, so it is absolutely vital that we all help raise awareness for the symptoms.     These symptoms include needing to wee more quickly or more often, persistent bloating, feeling full, loss of appetite or tummy pain. If you or anyone else has these symptoms, they should go and see a GP. Together we must continue to do more to raise awareness for cancer.”

    Cary Wakefield, Chief Executive of Ovarian Cancer Action, said: 

“The UK has one of the worst ovarian cancer survival rates in Europe. To improve survival rates we need more research and better symptom awareness, which is why we handed out 33,000 white roses this World Ovarian Cancer Day. It’s easy to ignore symptoms such as bloating and abdominal pain if you don’t know they are symptoms of a potentially deadly disease. Listen to your body and head straight to your GP if something isn’t right.”