An ambitious ?1m campaign has been launched to improve awareness of gynaecological cancer and support women with the disease. Health editor Madeleine Brindley reports It?s likely that most women have heard of cervical and ovarian cancer. But what about endometrial, womb or vulval cancer? An ambitious campaign has been launched to raise ?1m to support women who have been diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer and to raise awareness of the disease. The Miss Moola La project is the brainchild of businesswoman Nicki Page, who wants to build a centre to support women with gynaecological cancer while they are going through treatment and beyond. She said: ?The mission is to build the first Butterfly House survivor centre in South-East Wales for ladies in Wales recovering from gynaecological cancer. it will provide a natural holistic environment for ladies initially to receive follow up treatment and help them through their journey to wellness. this is to be based on models successfully operating in Canada and Australia.? Ms Page, managing director of marketing and communications firm Page 1 World, added: ?Our mission is to achieve a target of ?1m and ?1 and to get this matched by corporate organisations operating in Wales and by the Government, giving us ?3m to build the first Butterfly House and have funds to operate it. ?The services here will complement the tremendous work of those in the NHS in Wales and we will also aim to work with other charitable organisations that need our input.? There are four main types of gynaecological cancer ? endometrial (lining of the womb); ovarian, cervical and vulval ? accounting for more than 900 cases a year. these are the only forms of cancer which exclusively affect women ? although the majority of breast cancers are diagnosed in women, some 200 men a year also develop the disease. Awareness and knowledge of cervical cancer is relatively high among the general public, thanks in part to the availability of an established screening programme. The death of 27-year- old reality television star Jade Goody in 2009, from cervical cancer, also helped to raise awareness and saw an increase in the number of young women attending smear tests ? something doctors continue to refer to as the Goody effect. But awareness of the other three, and particularly awareness of endometrial and vulval cancer, remains very low, maybe because there are few charities associated with the diseases and because there are no screening programmes for any of the three. Kenneth Lim, a consultant gynaecological surgeon at Llandough Hospital and chair of the South Wales Cancer Network?s gynaecological advisory group, said: ?Awareness of gynaecological cancer is still quite low, partly because prevalence is so much lower than breast cancer. ?But although they all come under the heading of gynaecological cancer, they are very different in terms of prevalence, causes and treatment. ?I think gynaecological cancer is a subject that women don?t want to talk about and there?s no-one else taking it forward, apart from Jade Goody?s death which saw smear tests go up, although they?ve dropped back down again. ?of the four cancers, cervical cancer is the third most prevalent ? the others are much more common. Cases of cervical cancer are falling because of the screening programme and now the human papiloma virus (HPV) vaccination, which is good news for women in Wales and the UK. ?Ovarian cancer remains more or less stable but the prevalence of endometrial cancer is going up in Wales because of its association with obesity.? He added: ?Awareness of these cancers is the most important thing because preventing them is half of the battle ? the Welsh Government has said preventing cancer is a major part of its strategy. ?if we are able to make people more aware that obesity has a big impact on endometrial cancer, for example, that will help because obesity is a big problem in Wales. ?Survivorship after cancer is another big issue; how people who have had cancer are able to cope after treatment and how they manage any complications from having radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery. ?Patients are sometimes left with problems, changes in their bodies, that they have to deal with. It?s something I?m concerned about ? we hold follow- up clinics but if a patient is having a problem, for example with sex, there?s nowhere to refer them. ?they may have body image issues, sexual problems, psychological problems; they may be suffering from anxiety, depression or pain after surgery ? not everyone will experience these problems, most patients will be fine and be able to cope with life. But a small minority will have problems. ?We want to be able to provide that extra help for patients to help them cope.? Richard Peevor, a locum consultant gynaecological surgeon, also based at Llandough Hospital, added: ?Survivorship is something novel in the UK but it is important for cancer services ? there needs to be somewhere women can feel comfortable turning up. ?There are examples of these centres in Toronto, Canada, where everything is in one place. The cancer treatment ? surgery, chemotherapy ? is given in hospital but within that there?s a survivorship centre where people can access alternative supportive therapies and get access to psychosexual counselling and clinical psychiatry if they need it.? To support the Miss Moola La campaign and the development of a Butterfly House, donate to the South Wales Gynaecological Cancer Fund, which is run by mr Lim. For more information, call 029 2071 6068 Next page: There are four main forms of gynaecological cancer, affecting thousands of women in Wales every year.
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