DENVER — Friday, Sept. 3, 2021 is recognized as "Wear Teal Day."
In Colorado, 330 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year — approximately one Colorado woman every day.
Knowing the symptoms of ovarian cancer – bloating, abdominal pain, eating less and feeling fuller, and trouble with urination or bowel habits – can save a woman's life. Experiencing even one of these symptoms for more than two weeks should prompt a woman to talk to her doctor, preferably a gynecologist.
Over 80 percent of ovarian cancer diagnoses are late stage, metastasized cancer when the chance of surviving more than five years is just 44 percent. But if diagnosed early, a woman's chance of surviving five years increases to 93 percent.
September is observed nationally as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
Teal is the ovarian cancer community's color and serves as a reminder that ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in females in the United States, but it is the deadliest gynecologic cancer.
Pap tests do not screen for ovarian cancer. As there is no test for ovarian cancer, recognizing the symptoms and being diagnosed early are critical to saving lives.
To learn more about COCA and its programs, visit colo-ovariancancer.org or facebook.com/ColoradoOvarianCancerAlliance or email info@colo-ovariancancer.org.
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Most common symptoms of Ovarian Cancer
- Bloating that is persistent.
- Eating less and feeling better.
- Abdominal pain.
- Trouble with urination or bowel habits.
Ovarian cancer risk factors
- Genetics.
- Increasing age.
- Never having had children.
- Not using birth control.
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