I'm a GP - women need to know these 'silent' signs of deadly cancer


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Published: 15:17 GMT, 7 March 2025 A GP has warned women to watch out for the silent signs of a deadly cancer that kills thousands each year. Ovarian cancer is notoriously hard to diagnose because symptoms can easily be mistaken for less serious problems. As a result, only one in five patients are diagnosed in the early stages, before the disease spreads to other parts of the body, when treatment is more likely to be successful. Of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer early, 93 per cent go on to survive for more than five years. However, survival rates fall to just 13 per cent among those diagnosed in the later stages, when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. But family medic Dr Alex Missick, from online prescriber UK Meds, said women could help reduce their risk of a late stage diagnosis by watching out for little known signs of the disease. She said common symptoms of the condition include bloating or swelling of the abdomen; pelvic pain or discomfort; feeling full quickly when eating; and needing to urinate more, or more urgently. However, she added there were six more unusual signs of ovarian cancer that women may not know to connect with the disease. One of these was pain during sex, with Dr Missick explaining this can potentially be a sign of a cancerous growth in the pelvis, as can swelling and pain in the legs. She also said extreme fatigue and changes in your bowel habit were potential signs of ovarian cancer which are also often attributed to other factors. Finally, Dr Missick said back pain and menstrual irregularities - both of which can be put down to old age and perimenopause - are also symptoms of the deadly condition. 'Since these symptoms can overlap with less serious conditions, they can be easy to ignore,' she said. 'If you experience any of these persistently and in tandem with more common symptoms, then it is worth seeking advice from your doctor or GP.' While any woman can get ovarian cancer certain factors can increase an individual woman's risk of developing the disease. These include age - with the risk of ovarian cancer rising as you get older - and a family history of the disease. Both the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can both increase the risk of ovarian and breast cancer by more than 40 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.