Women’s health charity Wellbeing of Women are pleased to have been awarded £6,000 towards a UK-wide a study on how best to treat older and frail women with recurrent ovarian cancer, which will trial a new ‘geriatric assessment’ in cancer clinics. The project is looking to see if this new assessment will improve older women’s quality of life and help them get the amount of chemotherapy they need, with fewer side effects.
Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all the gynaecological cancers. The UK average five-year survival rate is only 43% but falls to only 35% in women over 70. Despite the high incidence of this disease in older women, many do not receive adequate care.
The lead researcher is Dr Susana Banerjee, Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Reader in Women’s Cancers at The Institute of Cancer Research.
Dr Banerjee believes that more tailored questions and tests can better identify older patients who need more support through their treatment. In 8 oncology clinics across the country (everywhere from The Royal Marsden to Edinburgh), she is testing a more holistic assessment with specific treatments which take the patient’s wider health into account.
This is the first UK study assessing the treatment of older women with recurrent ovarian cancer by oncology teams and the first study of sarcopenia (signs of frailty) in recurrent ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer is a terrible disease at any age but encountering it as a frail older woman is particularly tough. By supporting this work, The Elise Pilkington Charitable Trust are helping to ensure older women with ovarian cancer are not forgotten and receive the holistic care and treatment they need.