Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and tomorrow, 29 February, is Teal Ribbon Day, a day where the issue of ovarian cancer is raised within the community, and a day that is put aside for fundraising for research into ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer affects a significant number of women in Australia. One in 77 women will develop ovarian cancer in their lifetime. Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer death in Australian women, and ovarian cancer has an enormous impact on a number of women. Like many people in this parliament, I have known people who have had ovarian cancer. I had a very dear friend who ended up dying from ovarian cancer, and when that happened it made me very aware of the fact that ovarian cancer is one of those diseases that women are not very familiar with.

Ovarian cancer is a very silent sort of cancer, one that creeps up on people. As a result of that, diagnosis tends to happen at a later stage and the disease has advanced by the time it is finally diagnosed. But there are some signs: abdominal or pelvic pain, increased abdominal size or persistent abdominal bloating, a need to urinate often or urgently, and difficulty eating or feeling full very quickly. Women may experience some of those symptoms from time to time, but if they continue for longer than a two-week period then they should consult their doctor.

As I have mentioned, the outcome is generally poor for women who suffer from ovarian cancer. Research has been done into it and there has been a slight improvement in the outcome for women suffering ovarian cancer. For women aged from 40 to 80 there has been a slight decline in the loss of life. But when women over 70 are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it tends to be more aggressive and at a later stage and their prognosis is not very good. Similarly, for women under the age of 40 the outcome tends to be a lot poorer.

As I mentioned, there has been improved survival rates and that has given increased hope to women diagnosed today. A better understanding is needed of the biology of ovarian cancer. There is a need for a test that would lead to early detection. You cannot go and have a Pap smear. You cannot go and have a single test to determine that you have ovarian cancer. As I mentioned, the Pap test and other tests do not work.

Earlier I said that 800 women were diagnosed per year with ovarian cancer. That was back in about 2006. That has now increased to 1,200 women a year being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. That is 800 women who will actually lose their battle with ovarian cancer each year. So it is a significant number of women who are affected by it. Tomorrow is Teal Ribbon Day, and it is very important that we get behind it and support it and encourage research into this very slow, disastrous form of cancer that impacts on so many women in our society. I know that all members of this House will get behind Teal Ribbon Day. Wear your ribbon tomorrow and attend breakfast in the morning.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion today as we acknowledge February as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. I thank the member for Shortland for bringing this important issue to the attention of the parliament in the hope that it will raise awareness of the symptoms so we may better pre-empt this terrible disease. For women in Australia, ovarian cancer is the most common cause of gynaecological cancer death. Most alarmingly, the number of ovarian cancer cases has increased by 47 per cent between 1982 and 2006. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare predicts the number of cases will continue to rise in the future. Unfortunately, this cancer is very rarely identified or diagnosed in the preliminary, and therefore more treatable, stages. As with many cancers, it is absolutely imperative that women with a familial history undergo early screening. But, due to current limitations in technology and understanding of the aetiology of this cancer, the imperfect screening methods still fail to pick up many cases.

The Queensland Institute of Medical Research has found early diagnosis, either through pelvic examinations, the CA125 or biomarker blood tests or ultrasounds, do not result in reduced mortality rates. Screening programs by the United Nations World Health Organisation and the Australian Population Based Screening Framework have been developed. However, it notes that we are unable to specifically target a tumour in the ovaries until there are recognisable symptoms. Add to this the commonality of many of the symptoms, all of which can be attributed to other less serious or more common illnesses, and you have a very difficult situation. Ovarian Cancer Australia is working hard to provide resources for women, including a symptoms diary, which helps track what would otherwise be unexplained, persistent symptoms so that they are better prepared to discuss them with their doctor.

The first step after diagnosis is a laparotomy, where as much as possible of the tumour is removed. Chemotherapy and sometimes radiation therapy then follow. There is a particular distinction in the growth and spread of ovarian cancer which can make the cancer cells acquire resistance to the normally prescribed drugs. Unfortunately, this makes the prognosis in individual circumstances very difficult to predict.

However, significant amounts of funds are being directed into research projects, and the Queensland Centre for Medical Genomics at the University of Queensland in my electorate of Ryan is leading the way, having received $27.5 million in 2009 to devise biomarker and genetic techniques to detect ovarian and other cancers. Professor Sean Grimmond, Director of the Queensland Centre for Medical Genomics at the University of Queensland, and his team are about halfway through their project, and they are very excited about the progress made to date. Working closely with the Peter MacCallum Institute in Melbourne and other global partners in the International Cancer Genome Consortium, it is the largest international effort of its kind to date. While this project will involve more than 25,000 patients of more than 50 different tumour types, there will be a particular focus on ovarian and pancreatic cancer, as they have some of the lowest five-year survival rates. They are focusing on ovarian cancer because of the unique prognosis of this disease as compared with other cancers. According to Professor Grimmond, in the first instance the tumour or any remaining parts of an ovarian cancer tumour can be very sensitive to treatment with chemotherapy. However, even if the tumour goes away for one or two years, what can then present in patients is a tumour resistant to the traditional forms of chemotherapy. This has massive implications for the quality of life of the patient, since after removal—and even possibly remission—there is the ever present fear that it may return in an untreatable form. This is why Professor Grimmond and his team are dedicated to furthering genomic sequencing for ovarian cancer, so that in the future women will be able to have a greater sense of security regarding the prognosis and treatment of their disease.

I will wear a teal ribbon tomorrow, Wednesday, 29 February, to remember the women who have battled ovarian cancer, to support those who will face it in the future, to raise awareness of the ongoing search for a cure and to thank those who are working towards it.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the member for Shortland's motion to the House marking 29 February as Teal Ribbon Day as well as the month of February being a month of ovarian cancer awareness. It is an issue of great public importance not only to the people of my electorate but also to the broader Australian community, so I do welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion.

Teal Ribbon Day is an opportunity for us to remember those women who have been lost to ovarian cancer as well as to support those who are still fighting the disease. I want to take this opportunity to remember one of our own, the late Senator Jeannie Ferris, who passed away some years ago from ovarian cancer. Jeannie and I became good friends while we were involved in the Inter Parliamentary Union and I was very fond of her, so I just wanted to remember her today.

Ovarian cancer places an incredible burden on the lives of the many Australian women and their families and it is often incorrectly referred to as a silent disease. We do know now that in fact ovarian cancer has some very clear symptoms and as the Director of Ovarian Cancer Australia, Ms Paula Benson—herself a survivor of ovarian cancer—highlights:

Scientific evidence has shown that many women do experience symptoms that, if acted on, could result in an earlier diagnosis and a better chance of beating the disease.

With this in mind, Teal Ribbon Day is very much about busting the myths surrounding ovarian cancer, myths which explain why less than a third of women correctly diagnose the most common risk factors relating to this condition. The other more than two-thirds who are diagnosed at an advanced stage are diagnosed at a time when successful treatment is very difficult. Women are always very busy, we have got lots of commitments—our work, our families, our very frantic lifestyle—and we tend to ignore symptoms. The message is very clear that we need to listen to our bodies and to learn—as the member for Shortland quite correctly suggested—that there are symptoms that are now known to be very much indicators of possible ovarian cancer. What is vital with this form of cancer, and what is not often known, is that there are no screening tests. We have said that before and we need to keep saying this—that there are no screening tests—so it becomes very important that we learn to identify the symptoms for ourselves and visit our doctors if we are not sure about some of the symptoms that we are experiencing.

We are lucky to be living in a country which has built a formidable foundation of research and treatment programs for the overall benefit of Australian women, but today's message in relation to ovarian cancer is that research is still pretty much at an early stage and that more work needs to be done in order to help women deal with the disease and to also be more aware of it. In an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study in 2010, ovarian cancer was shown to be the fourth leading cancer cause of burden of disease for females, causing nearly 30,000 disability adjusted life-years for women—it is a large number. I know breast cancer is one of the major killers of women, but ovarian cancer is up there in the top five as well.

In my electorate I participate in many events that are aimed at promoting awareness and introducing and teaching women about preventive measures so that we can ensure that, as a member of parliament, the women I represent are able to understand and prioritise their health. Women, especially those with families and children, are almost the central core element of their families and they are also active participants in the broader community, and that is why women tend often to overlook their own health. If we think of anything tomorrow, it is that we need to put ourselves first from time to time and to pay attention to what our body is telling us. In my electorate, I have a very large non-English speaking community and I make a very big effort to ensure that all information is made available to women in languages other than English because if we are conveying a message we need to be sure that our women can understand it and read it.

Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the member for Shortland's motion and endorse the comments from the member for Shortland, the member for Ryan and the member for Calwell. This is indeed a very important issue. It is an important issue not only because it goes to the health of many Australian women but because it is one of those areas where research is still being undertaken and there is so much yet to learn.

I have recently been appointed by Ovarian Cancer Australia as one of their ambassadors. It is a responsibility that I take incredibly seriously. What some people do not realise is just how devastating ovarian cancer can be. Each year, around 800 Australian women will lose their battle with ovarian cancer. That is one woman every 11 hours. What it is so concerning about this disease in particular is that there is no clear detection test. A lot of women think that if they have a Pap smear that this somehow is going to be an indicator for ovarian cancer, but this of course is not the case. More than 1,200 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year alone in Australia. That is three women every day—a very serious statistic. When you consider that one in 77 Australian women will develop ovarian cancer in their lifetime, it is clear that this is why we need to raise the national prominence of this devastating disease.

Despite all of the publicity around breast cancer and prostate cancer, ovarian cancer is actually the sixth most common cause of cancer death in Australian women. As was rightly pointed out by the members before me, it is important for Australian women to be very familiar with the symptoms of ovarian cancer. I am going to run through them because it is worth repeating. There are four key symptoms: abdominal or pelvic pain; increased abdominal size or persistent abdominal bloating; needing to urinate often or urgently; and finally, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly. The problem is that these symptoms are quite common symptoms and a lot of women do not recognise that these symptoms are linked with ovarian cancer. It is critical that if women do experience these symptoms over time, and that they are new to them and persist for more than two weeks, they should consult their doctor and do so as quickly as possible.

Part of the reason that ovarian cancer has such drastic statistics in terms of life expectancy is that it is often discovered so terribly late. Seventy-five per cent of ovarian cancer sufferers do not survive the diagnosis. That is why medical research is so critically important and there have been some tremendous leaps in medical research as advanced by the team of amazing researchers at the Peter MacCallum, who are internationally recognised for their program. I would like to place on record my thanks to them for the significant work that they are undertaking right now. It is also important to note that research only happens with government support and assistance, as well as philanthropic assistance.

In my electorate of Higgins, just on the border, I am fortunate to have two incredible research institutes: the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute and the Burnet Institute. They are part of the association of Australian medical health research associations. These research associations are very concerned to ensure that in the upcoming budget they continue to receive appropriate government assistance so that they can continue to undertake the important work that they do in health and medical research. We know that last year that medical health research budget was under threat and we hope that this year it will not be the same and that their funding is, in fact, safeguarded. So I think it is important to place on record that we appreciate the important work that they do, the important work of Peter MacCallum and the importance of this issue of ovarian cancer to all Australians.

Debate adjourned.