CLOCS is dedicated to help reduce delays in ovarian cancer diagnosis by finding a new way to facilitate help-seeking among women who might be experiencing cancer alarm symptoms.
Symptoms are vague and not well known
Evidence shows that greater knowledge of symptoms of ovarian cancer alone do not always facilitate earlier presentation in primary care.
Women who have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer usually do not seek immediate help from health professionals because they might have felt that the symptoms were manageable using home remedies or using over the counter medication such as pain killers or indigestion tablets. Furthermore, women who had experienced a symptom or symptoms associated with ovarian cancer had reported that "not wanting to waste GPs' time", lack of concern, normalising symptoms and competing time demands hinder seeing a health professional in a timely manner.
Finding ovarian cancer even just a few weeks earlier can make a difference in outcome.
Unfortunately, most women get diagnosed at emergency services once their symptoms had become debilitating and this could result in a late stage diagnosis. Therefore, if women tend to manage their symptoms based on their previous experience, information about how often and what products women may purchase to self-manage potential early symptoms could help identify ovarian cancer those crucial few weeks earlier.