Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to make a contribution on a matter of public interest. Each year in Australia, February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. This is to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and to recognise women, their families and friends who are affected by ovarian cancer. It is not uncommon when a patient hears the word 'cancer' for it to bring with it many fears and feelings such as grief, depression, denial, anger, fear, stress, anxiety and loneliness. Too many of us in this chamber have either directly or indirectly through our families and friends experienced these feelings.

People dealing with this diagnosis may experience some or all of these feelings and will handle these emotions in very different ways. With the first emotion most often being shock, no-one is ever ready to hear that they have cancer. I believe it is very normal for people with cancer to ask why it has happened to them or to think life has treated them unfairly. Some people have a hard time accepting the diagnosis, especially if they do not feel or look ill.

Ovarian cancer is difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are ones that many women have from time to time, like abdominal or pelvic pain, increased abdominal size or bloating, needing to urinate more frequently and feeling full after eating only a small amount. Persistent symptoms like this that occur over a two-week period could be signs of ovarian cancer. I can guarantee that most of us women would have had these symptoms at some time in our lives, some of us only too often. But would you think to go to the doctor to be tested for ovarian cancer? Probably not.

Alarmingly, in Australia one woman dies every 10 hours from ovarian cancer, making it the sixth most common cause of cancer death in women. One in 79 Australian women will develop ovarian cancer by the age of 85, with the average age of diagnosis being 64. Therefore, this month we should take the opportunity to become more aware of and read up on ovarian cancer, and to be more aware of our bodies. And if you have any inkling of a concern, I strongly urge you to go and see your local doctor and to ask some important questions to ensure that you have peace of mind. There are some wonderful informative sites which provide much more detail on ovarian cancer and the symptoms to be aware of. However, I would encourage all women to make an appointment with their general practitioner to discuss any concerns that they may have. I cannot emphasise that enough, because early detection is critical.

Another frightening statistic worth knowing is that the outcomes for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are generally very poor, as 70 per cent of women are diagnosed when their cancer is at an advanced state. I have spoken on this topic many times before in this chamber, particularly in the month of February, and I wanted to talk again because I want the conversations to be had within the community. This just may help save one life by raising awareness of it with women to ensure that they have the best opportunity to survive this type of cancer by having early detection. I also wanted this year to talk more about ovarian cancer and how it affects the women that live in my home state of Tasmania.

In 2009 a total of 34 women were newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer in Tasmania, compared to the 10-year average of 30 new cases per year for the period 2000-09. On average, women were aged 61 at time of diagnosis during 2009. And during the period 2000-09, on average, 21 Tasmanian women died per year where the primary cause of death was attributable to ovarian cancer. These are scary and realistic figures. At their time of death during 2009, the average age of these women was 69.5 years. Data shows that for all women newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer from 1999 to 2008, one in three women or 33.3 per cent, lived five years or longer following diagnosis. This compares with 27.4 per cent for the 10-year period from 1979 to 1988.

A Tasmanian ovarian cancer survivor has urged women to be persistent if their concerns are not being heard, because this type of cancer is known as the 'silent killer'. New research from Ovarian Cancer Australia, OCA, has shown that 40 per cent of women believe ovarian cancer to be just that—the silent killer. Recently it was reported that a Tasmanian sufferer said she was diagnosed four years ago. She had no idea about it until she went in for unrelated surgery and the scans revealed that she had stage 3 ovarian cancer. She said she did not have any symptoms and that she was devastated to receive the news—a very natural reaction, I would have thought.

Ovarian Cancer Australia's statistics show that more than 1,200 Australian women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year and about 800 will die from the disease. Tasmanian Ovarian Cancer Australia ambassadors Patricia Bailey and Jane Stephens—Crown Princess Mary's sisters—have said that many women do not take note of the possible symptoms of the cancer, which decreases their chances of finding it early. I want to tell you the story of Kristen. She is a young women from Kingston in my home state of Tasmania who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 48. Kristen tells the story of getting a pain in her shoulder in early 2009. She was referred to a physiotherapist for work on her shoulder, which she undertook for three months. In May of 2009 her stomach started to bloat. She would have half a cup of tea and feel full. She could not eat anything as she constantly felt bloated and full and uncomfortable. This went on for two weeks. She made an appointment with her doctor who sent her to have an ultrasound. The ultrasound was conducted on a Friday and the next day, being Saturday, her doctor rang and urgently referred her to a gynaecologist. The gynaecologist appointment was on the Monday. That was the day she was told she had ovarian cancer.

Within eight days, Kristen was in surgery having a full hysterectomy. Four years on she is still having chemotherapy. The doctors have told her that the symptoms of ovarian cancer can be quite different and, by the time most patients are diagnosed, they are usually at stage 3 or above. Kristen was told her shoulder pain was an indicator of the ovarian cancer. As a result of her diagnosis, Kristen's daughter now has a regular 12-monthly ultrasound. Even though they may not be able to detect ovarian cancer via ultrasound she feels this is something they need to do. It gives them peace of mind. However, doctors do not know if ovarian cancer is hereditary or not.

Another Tasmanian ovarian cancer sufferer said that she was a fit and active 59-year-old who suddenly found that she could not do up her trousers. She felt she had a thickening of the waist and her clothes were starting to feel tight. She wondered if it was related to menopause. She also noticed a shortness of breath and generally a feeling of having no energy, which was quite different to her normal, active life. She felt that perhaps she needed a holiday, because this feeling of unwellness was not normal for her. But a trip to the doctor diagnosed her with advanced stage 4 ovarian cancer. Within four months she had a full hysterectomy and chemotherapy treatment.

The diagnosis affects not only the person who has been diagnosed but also their family and friends. If you are given a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, like with any other cancer, it is so important to surround yourself with a strong support system. There will be loads of information available to educate yourself about the disease and the treatment available, but you need the support of your family and friends.

We know very little about the causes of most ovarian cancers. Research into the causes of this cancer is continuing in Australia and overseas. We do know that there are some factors that may increase a woman's risk of developing ovarian cancer, and that there are some protective factors that may reduce a woman's risk. The good news is that there was a World Today report in January this year which reported that there may be a life-saving development—a new study which suggests that analysing DNA from pap smears could help detect ovarian cancers. As it stands right now, there are no approved screening tests for ovarian cancers. This initial study is suggesting that they can detect about 40 per cent of ovarian cancers even in the earliest stages of the disease. So this is certainly a promising development. Pap smears are performed every day on thousands of women around the world and this test would be no different a procedure for the patient. But, while there is still a lot of work to be done on these findings, and while it is quite a long way from being able to be used as a screening test, the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation believes it to be worthy of further evaluation.

In summary, in 2006 ovarian cancer was the ninth most commonly diagnosed cancer among Australian women nationally, excluding non-reportable skin cancers, and the second most commonly diagnosed gynaecological cancer. Nationally, the total number of ovarian cancer cases increased significantly in the 25-year period from 1982 to 2006 due to an ageing and growing population. By contrast, the age standardised incidence rate of ovarian cancer decreased during the same period from 12.4 to 10.7 new cases per 100,000 females. Death from ovarian cancer was the fifth most common cause of cancer related death for women in Tasmania in 2009, with 25 women dying from the disease. Lung and breast cancer, at 83 and 81 deaths respectively, were the two most common causes of death for women during this period. I note that the 2009 statistics are the most up to date that we have.

Fluctuations in annual numbers of new ovarian cancer cases and deaths for this uncommon cancer are to be expected given the relatively small size of the Tasmanian population, and statistics need to be interpreted cautiously. If you are battling against ovarian cancer, have your family there to support you. I ask all in this chamber and who are listening to this debate contribution today to have the conversation with your sisters, your wives, your partners, your nieces, your daughters and your neighbours. It is about being aware of the symptoms, and not being afraid to question your medical professionals if they are not listening to you. Early detection is important. I cannot stress enough that we have to detect this disease as early as possible.

Throughout the great month of February—which is a very special month for those celebrating our birthdays this month—Ovarian Cancer Australia will be hosting a range of activities and events to raise awareness and funds for supporting the awareness and research programs, and I encourage everyone to get involved and show their support. We must do all we can to ensure that we have the conversations. We must do everything we can to put an end to this silent killer.

I take the opportunity to thank those professionals—medical and otherwise—for their compassion and the support that they give to patients and their families. I also thank the two patients and survivors of ovarian cancer who were brave enough to speak to my office in helping to bring here today not just a statistical contribution but also the perspective that these are real women. These are our mothers, our sisters, our nieces, our friends who are battling cancer. It does not matter what form of cancer it is; it is a shock. It is a terrible blight on our health and I encourage you to have the conversations so we can do all we can to raise awareness.

The government whip's office has some pamphlets available. I encourage you to have the conversation, to visit the websites and to inform yourselves. For those who are battling, I wish you all the very best.