Dr Amir Khan

You could get some tummy pain.

You might get some bleeding.

It's very unusual.

You could get bowel changes as well.

So bowel symptom changes and you could get urinary symptoms as well because ovarian cancers can grow quite big because there's a lot of space in your pelvis around there.

So they can press on your bladder, make you go more often than normal, change your bowel habits, make you go to the toilet more often because they're taking up space where poo and pee would have taken up space.

So all of those things are really, really important.

Yes, but ovarian cancer... Where's your stomach?

Yeah, about... Is it here?

Yeah, so kind of just underneath your breastbone and it goes down to kind of just above your belly button, really, and a bit over to the left-hand side.

So...

Ovarian cancers.

The reason why people present late with ovarian cancer is, again, the symptoms you don't think gas or bowel changes could be the ovaries.

But there is a lot of space in your pelvis around there.

So ovarian cancer can get quite large and press on things like the bottom of your stomach and the gut, which is why, you know, you think, actually, I'm not that hungry because I've eaten and my stomach feels full, but it's just that it hasn't got the space to expand like it should.

Yeah, very much so.

And that gassy feeling that you're getting all that bloated isn't always gas.

It's the tumour itself taking up all that space.

So if you, you know, I'm hoping it won't get to this stage, but if you can feel a lump as well when you're pressing your tummy, we really do need to see you.

Yeah.