The Bermuda TB, Cancer & Health Association brought a prominent ovarian cancer researcher to Bermuda to discuss the myths, diagnosis and treatments of the disease on Thursday evening.

Dr. Wendy Chen works at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School Institute, in Boston. She came to Bermuda hoping to inform women about the importance of early diagnosis and increase the level of discussion about the disease.

?So often breast cancer is seen as the women?s cancer but people need to be aware of ovarian cancer as well, ? Dr. Chen said.

She said one myth about ovarian cancer is that it is a silent disease that doesn?t have many symptoms.

?Women do have many signs and symptoms but they overlap with common diseases and because of that it is hard to tell them apart,? Dr. Chen said. ?Some of the signs of ovarian cancer are bloating and nausea. Women should be concerned if these symptoms aren?t getting better and the severity of the symptoms.?

Other symptoms of ovarian cancer are loss of appetite, weight gain or loss for no apparent reason and abnormal bleeding from the vagina.

Another issue with ovarian cancer is that many women allow their symptoms to be brushed aside and labelled as other issues during their check ups. Dr. Chen said it is important for women to have a good relationship with their doctor so they are comfortable discussing the symptoms and demand additional tests if they have persistent symptoms.

Paying attention to persistent symptoms is vital because Dr. Chen said an annual gynaecological exam does not always discover the cancer.

Early diagnosis is important because many women do not realise they have it until the cancer is in stage three or four.

?In the US it is the tenth most common cause of cancer in women but it?s actually the fourth most common cause of cancer deaths in women,? Dr. Chen said.

Another myth surrounding the disease is that it is genetic or hereditary. Only five to ten percent of ovarian cancer cases can be linked to genetics, the cause of the remaining 90 percent of ovarian cancer cases is not known.

Women between the age of 50 and 60 are most likely to develop ovarian cancer, however women under 50 can develop it.

The Bermuda TB, Cancer & Health Association has more information available about ovarian cancer and recommends looking at websites such as www.ovariancancer.org and www.wcn.org.