Recognising Early Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer.

NICE has launched a quality standard to help with recognising the early symptoms of ovarian cancer. It can be hard to diagnose the condition, since some of the symptoms of ovarian cancer are similar to those seen in more common conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome.
The quality standard consists of eight quality statements that describe high-quality, cost-effective care for the condition. It says women aged 50 or above and reporting one or more symptoms occurring persistently, or frequently suggesting ovarian cancer, should be offered a CA125 test. Furthermore, women with raised CA125 should have an ultrasound of their abdomen and pelvis within 2 weeks of receiving the CA125 test results.

'Recognising early symptoms of ovarian cancer' is an online learning tool covering the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and diagnostic tests. 'Ovarian cancer: recognising early symptoms in primary care' is an audio module examining the importance of early diagnosis and prognosis, risk factors, and signs and symptoms.

These resources were developed independently by Target Ovarian Cancer and BMJ Learning.