Women in the UK are waiting significantly longer for ovarian cancer treatment than patients in comparable high-income countries, where survival rates are higher, according to new research.
A study by the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) found that just 59.3% of patients in England received chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, compared with 75% in parts of Canada. The UK also lagged behind countries such as Norway, Canada and Australia in speed of diagnosis, with older women in particular less likely to be offered chemotherapy.
The findings highlight the urgent need for a new national cancer strategy, which the health secretary, Wes Streeting, has pledged to release in the autumn. The plan is expected to focus on prevention, early diagnosis and improved treatment. NHS England has consistently failed to meet its target of treating 85% of patients within 62 days of referral since 2015. The most recent figure stands at 69.2%.
John Butler, lead clinical adviser for the ICBP and an NHS surgeon in London, said survival was improving in the NHS, “but we’re about 15 years behind other leading countries”.
The research, published in the journal *Cancer Epidemiology* and supported by Cancer Research UK, analysed 39,879 cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed between 2012 and 2017 across Australia, Canada, Norway and the UK. Survival outcomes varied widely: in Norway, 46% of women were alive five years after diagnosis, compared with 34% in Scotland, 35% in Wales and Northern Ireland, and 38% in England.
Staff shortages in GP surgeries and limited access to diagnostic scanners were identified as key barriers. Ovarian cancer symptoms can often be vague, including bloating, fatigue and feeling full quickly. Butler stressed that access to scans was essential since GPs rarely encounter the disease.
He described how delays in diagnosis were costing lives: “I see women every week who have visited GPs multiple times before being diagnosed. I had a patient who died recently who was 28. She visited nine different GPs with symptoms and it’s only when she ended up in A&E that she had a scan and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.”
A previous ICBP study found that UK GPs were less likely to refer patients for tests compared with counterparts in high-performing systems such as Australia.
One patient, Norva Abiona, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2010 aged 34 after initially thinking she was pregnant. “It’s like something was growing inside you but my tummy was growing a bit too quick,” she recalled. But her concerns were repeatedly dismissed. “One doctor told me unless I come in collapsed, heavily bleeding or something else, that I don’t have an emergency.”
Eventually, she was diagnosed in A&E after a CT scan revealed a 15cm tumour. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy, but treatment had to be stopped due to severe side effects. Months later, doctors ordered further tests, only to discover she was pregnant.
Now a mother of three and cancer-free, Abiona reflected: “I know some people who did not make it. [People who] can’t walk. I am one of the really blessed and fortunate people to come out and still have a positive story.”
