Cancer Awareness Month

September is both Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Working with the ovarian cancer advocacy community, including SGNO, the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation is helping to educate women about the symptoms of ovarian cancer.

In June, 2007 a new national consensus on ovarian cancer symptoms was announced. Formulated by GCF, the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists and the American Cancer Society, the consensus statement has been endorsed by 38 gynecologic cancer advocacy organizations.

Historically, ovarian cancer was called the "silent killer" because symptoms were not thought to develop until the chance of cure was poor. However, recent studies have shown this term is untrue and that the following symptoms are much more likely to occur in women with ovarian cancer than women in the general population. These symptoms include:

Bloating
Pelvic or abdominal pain
Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
Urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency)

Women with ovarian cancer report that symptoms are persistent and represent a change from normal for their bodies. The frequency and/or number of such symptoms are key factors in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Several studies show that even early stage ovarian cancer can produce these symptoms.

Women who have these symptoms almost daily for more than a few weeks should see their doctor, preferably a gynecologist. Prompt medical evaluation may lead to detection at the earliest possible stage of the disease. Early stage diagnosis is associated with an improved prognosis.

Several other symptoms have been commonly reported by women with ovarian cancer. These symptoms include fatigue, indigestion, back pain, pain with intercourse, constipation and menstrual irregularities. However, these other symptoms are not as useful in identifying ovarian cancer because they are also found in equal frequency in women in the general population who do not have ovarian cancer.

Your Role in Cancer Awareness

SGNO urges you as a member, or a visitor to our website, to join the GCF and others in efforts to make women aware of these symptoms as you conduct activities in your community. To assist you with awareness activities, GCF has prepared its 2007 GCAM Publicity Kit (920K PDF) which includes information, tips and tools for events, reaching the media and sharing key messages.

To make your efforts as meaningful as possible, please complete the following:

A member activity form to track your planned events and inform GCF
A results form to let GCF know about the success of your GCAM activities
A publicity kit survey form, to help GCF learn how to refine the kit for future GCAM activities
A promotional/educational materials order form, in case you wish to have additional materials on hand for GCAM or other activities

Please take a moment to fill out these forms and send them in. Your input helps us reach even more women each year about GCAM.