Ovarian cancer – A crisis of awareness | Medical Negligence and Personal Injury Blog | Kingsley Napley

According to the charity Target Ovarian Cancer (‘Target’), the lack of understanding surrounding this devastating disease has led to ‘an awareness crisis’. This month the charity is redoubling its efforts to put ovarian cancer in the spotlight. It states that there are over 7,000 cases every year, and two thirds of these are diagnosed too late when the cancer has already spread. Target aims to address both a lack of understanding about early symptoms among women… as well as doctors.

As with some other types of cancer, if diagnosed early, the chances of survival are good. However, where a diagnosis comes at a later stage ovarian cancer is hard to treat and outcomes can be poor. According to Target, one in five women are even too ill to receive any treatment by the time the cancer is found. Unsurprisingly, delays in diagnosis of ovarian cancer are therefore the subject of a number of clinical negligence claims each year.

GPs need to recognise early symptoms

According to a Target report, ‘Time is running out: The need for early diagnosis in ovarian cancer’ there are ‘still outstanding gaps in GP knowledge’ with nearly half (44 percent) of GPs believing that ovarian cancer symptoms only present in the later stages of the disease.

However, Target research found that 86 percent of women with early-stage ovarian cancer had presented with at least one of the symptoms set out in guidelines by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) ‘demonstrating that awareness of the symptoms has a critical role to play in catching the disease early’.  As a result, the charity provides education and training for GPs.

Target stresses that real change is necessary: ‘Every GP in the UK needs to be trained in the symptoms of ovarian cancer and the referral pathway to reduce variations in practice.’

Symptoms of the disease include:

• Persistent bloating
• Felling full quickly and / or a loss of appetite
• Pelvic or abdominal pain
• Urinary symptoms

Unfortunately, these symptoms are sometimes attributed to other conditions, including the menopause or irritable bowel syndrome. If there has been a failure to recognise potential symptoms and make an appropriate referral, there may be a legal claim for medical negligence if a patient’s diagnosis has been delayed and they have suffered a worse outcome as a result.   

There are also a number of myths in relation to the symptoms of ovarian cancer. For example, Target says that 40 percent of women wrongly believe that cervical screening detects ovarian cancer.  It is therefore very important to be aware of the symptoms and have accurate knowledge of the screening.

Treatment delays

Unfortunately, the UK already lags behind some other countries in terms of providing many types cancer treatments. Some patients face long delays for treatment which can result in the growth or spread of their cancer. Where any delay is caused by negligence, and has led to a growth or spread of the disease, there may be an opportunity for the patient to bring a clinical negligence claim. A claim can also arise if a test or scan was undertaken, but there was a failure to spot any signs of cancer.

The psychological impact of a cancer diagnosis is also difficult to manage, and being aware that the outcome could have been better had the disease had been diagnosed at an early date can certainly have a psychological impact. We recognise the high level of support that clients looking to bring legal claims need, and we seek to make the process as easy as possible.

Specialist solicitors

Legal claims relating to cancer can be complicated. Expert evidence is needed to prove that the delayed diagnosis has had an impact on the cancer, and to show at what stage the cancer would have been but for the negligence. Our solicitors specialise in dealing with these complicated issues and we work with a number of leading oncology experts.

We have considerable experience in claims relating to delayed in diagnosis of cancer and more information can be found on our cancer misdiagnosis webpage. 

Further information

If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Wadden in our Medical Negligence and Personal Injury team.

About the author

Andrea Wadden is an Associate in the Medical Negligence Department. She qualified as a solicitor in 2023 and then joined Kingsley Napley. She has experience in both medical negligence and personal injury claims having worked at a national law firm in Birmingham for five years. She has undertaken work with clients who have sustained a variety of injuries including brain injuries, birth injuries and orthopaedic injuries.