New figures show women are still waiting too long for cancer diagnosis (From The Northern Echo)

New figures show women are still waiting too long for cancer diagnosis

12:10am Wednesday 23rd January 2013 in News By Barry Nelson, Health Editor

THE lives of women with ovarian cancer in the North-East and Yorkshire are still being cut short because of diagnoses delays, according to a new survey.

The stark findings on delays are published as part of Target Ovarian Cancer's Pathfinder Study.

Every year 334 women in the North of England are diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Women diagnosed at the earliest stage have a five year survival rate of 92 per cent, but the five year survival rate in the UK is just 36 per cent, amongst the worst in Europe.

Experts say 500 lives a year could be saved through earlier diagnosis if the UK could match the best rates in Europe.

Despite these figures, new data from Target Ovarian Cancer's Pathfinder Study shows that women are still facing delays.

One in four women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the last five years took more than three months to visit their GP after they began experiencing symptoms.

And over half took more than a month. Once at the GP's, the report claims, the women still faced problems getting a correct diagnosis.

For almost a third of women diagnosis was more than six months after they first went to see their doctor. Misdiagnosis is common, with 30 per cent of women told they have some other illness.

One in ten GPs has also had diagnostic tests refused in the past year.

Annwen Jones, chief executive of Target Ovarian Cancer, said: "Early diagnosis is key. Seventy-five per cent of women are diagnosed once the cancer has spread. This is unacceptable."