NICE consults on first national guideline on ovarian cancer

GPs should initiate tests for ovarian cancer for women with frequent and persistent abdominal symptoms to reduce the delays in diagnosis that currently contribute to poor survival, says draft guidance on the cancer for the NHS in England and Wales.

“Overall survival rates for ovarian cancer are low,” said Fergus Macbeth, director of the Centre for Clinical Practice at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which has developed the new guideline. “Only around one in three women will live for at least five years after diagnosis. This is mainly because women who develop ovarian cancer and their GPs often only realise …