This September is Gynaecological Cancer Awareness month and Jo’s Trust are providing various different events and fundraisers to spread awareness of the disease. Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month | Campaigns (jostrust.org.uk). Williamsons Solicitors wanted to spread awareness of the disease to provide women, transgender males and non-binary individuals in the signs, symptoms and testing for such cancers.
Gynaecological cancer is any cancer that starts in the reproductive system of all individuals who are assigned female at birth. There are 5 different types of gynaecological cancer which include:
Cancer Research provide statistics on the above noting that there are approximately 3,200 new cervical cancer cases each year, 7,500 new ovarian cancer cases the UK each year, 9,700 new womb/uterine cancer cases each year making this the 4th most common cancer cases in the UK each year, 250 new vaginal cancer cases each year in the UK and 1,400 new vulval cancer cases in the UK every year.
We at Williamsons would like to spread awareness of some of the signs and symptoms of gynaecological cancer, please see below:
If you have any of the above symptoms, the first thing to do is to contact your GP and make an appointment with them. Your GP will ask you what your symptoms are, when you get them and whether anything makes them better or worse. Your GP may also want to do a physical examination and depending on your answers and examination result, may be referred to a specialist at the local hospital trust for further testing.
For cervical cancer, there is Cervical Screening which is a test that is offered to individuals aged between 25-64 years and is used to test for abnormal cells around the cervix. Following the cervical screening, you should receive your results within 2-6 weeks. This test is to look for the human papillomavirus, also known as HPV, which is a virus that sits within your cervix and can cause the cells to become abnormal and thereafter cancerous.
If you have normal results following cervical screening, you will have the next screening in 3-5 years’ time. If you have abnormal test results, the next steps are to be invited for a colposcopy for a closer look at the cervix and provide further information on whether you have cervical cancer. If the colposcopy is normal, you will be invited for your next smear the following year to ensure there are no further abnormal cells to be found. If your results are abnormal at the colposcopy, you will be invited for further tests in order to reach a diagnosis of cervical cancer.
If you are unable to attend a cervical screen or you are not yet within the age bracket to be offered a cervical screen, you can attend your GP practice for a review by your doctor. You should advise your doctor that you are worried that you may have cancer and this should prompt your doctor to provide full testing and reassurance.
For more information on the different types of gynaecological cancers and testing for the same, please visit the Cancer Research website: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/womens-cancer.
If you are found to have gynaecological cancer, the type of treatment you will require will depend on where the cancer started. Common treatment methods can include:
The earlier you receive treatment for gynaecological cancer, the better the chance you have of the cancer being successfully treated. If there is a delay in diagnosis or treatment of gynaecological cancer, this can allow spread of the cancer and can affect the prognosis.
One such example of this was reported in the news recently, in which a 33-year-old individual had been advised following a smear test that she has abnormal cells within her cervix. Following a colposcopy, she was advised that these were nothing to worry about and was discharged from the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, being advised no further tests were required. Following her next cervical screen, 3 years later, it was found that she had to undergo further tests including an MRI and biopsy and was diagnosed with grade 2 carcinoma of the cervix. It was further found that the original smear test had been incorrectly reported as having borderline changes and that a biopsy at that stage would have confirmed pre-invasive cancer. Given that there was a delay in the diagnosis and treatment, the cancer progressed and she was required to have radical surgery to remove her cervix.
She thereafter brought a clinical negligence claim for this delay in diagnosis and treatment and she was awarded a 5 figure settlement, which she intends to use to help fund IVF in the hope of conceiving children. It was found that had the cancer been diagnosed the 3 years earlier, she would not have needed her cervix to be removed and she would have been able to conceive naturally in the future.
Our clinical negligence team have the skills, knowledge and experience to deal with delayed diagnosis of gynaecological cancer and our Clinical Negligence Team are happy to discuss, in confidence, a possible clinical negligence matter. If you feel you or someone you know has been affected by gynaecological cancer and you feel there has been a delay in the diagnosis and treatment of the same and would like to speak to one of our team please contact 01482 323697.
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