Know it, treat it, FIGHT It!

Ovarian Cancer, if discovered early, spells an 85% to 95% five-year survival rate.

Ovarian cancer is a malignancy that arises from various different cells within the ovaries. According to Dr Lee Keen Whye, Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist of K W Lee Clinic & Surgery for Women at Gleneagles Medical Centre, ovarian cancer accounts for 5.4% of all female cancers in Singapore. It is more common in women over 50 years old.

Being the fourth commonest female cancer in Singapore, many are unaware of the cancer and how early detection can save lives. "Most ovarian tumours are non-cancerous cyst. Early stage cancers and borderline cancers can be adequately treated laparoscopically (key-hole surgery), and is often curable when it is caught early. But most of the time, the cancer has already spread by the time it is found. There are several types of ovarian cancers," says Dr Lee.