Clinical guidelines
- NICE Clinical Guideline 122 – Ovarian cancer: the recognition and initial management of ovarian cancer
Sets out the referral process for women with suspected ovarian cancer, covering the referral pathway up to and including first line treatment.
- NICE Quality Standard 18 – Ovarian cancer
Sets out what high-quality care looks like for those with ovarian cancer.
- NICE Guideline NG241 - Ovarian cancer: identifying and managing familial and genetic risk
Guidance on managing patients with a possible family history and/or genetic risk of ovarian cancer, including guidance on the role and responsibility of healthcare professionals in primary and secondary care.
- SIGN 135 Management of epithelial ovarian cancer
Provides advice on initial referral and testing for ovarian cancer.
- NHS Jewish BRCA testing
NHS England offers free BRCA gene testing for anyone living in England, aged 18 or over with one or more Jewish grandparent, of any type of Jewish origin (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi etc).
Having Jewish ancestry increases the risk of having a BRCA gene fault – 1 in 40 Ashkenazi Jews and around 1 in 140 Sephardi Jews has a faulty BRCA gene, compared to around 1 in 250 individuals in the UK general population.Information for your patients on genetic and genomic testing
Download resources for your practice waiting room to help your patients learn more about NHS Jewish BRCA testing:
Policy
- Achieving world class cancer outcomes: a strategy for England 2015-2020
In July 2015 a new cancer strategy was published for England. It set out new ambitions around early diagnosis, with 95 per cent of patients to receive a diagnosis within four weeks of first going to see their GP, improvements in surgery and ensuring women with ovarian cancer are offered testing for the BRCA gene mutation.
- NHS England service specification for gynaecological cancer
This sets out the standards specialist ovarian cancer services should be commissioned to.
- Clinical Commissioning Policy: Genetic Testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations
NHS England commissions genetic testing for anyone with a 10% or higher risk of having a BRCA mutation. Up to one in six women with ovarian cancer have a genetic mutation, therefore all women with non-mucinous ovarian cancer are now eligible for genetic testing.
- National ovarian cancer audit
The Ovarian Cancer Audit Feasibility Pilot was a 3 year collaboration between the gynaecological oncology clinical community, the charity sector and the NHS, conducted over the period from 2019 to 2023.
Reports
- Pathfinder
Pathfinder is Target Ovarian Cancer's ground-breaking research that provides a detailed picture of the experiences of people with ovarian cancer in the UK.
Our latest report, Pathfinder 2022: Faster, further, and fairer, tells us that progress is possible if urgent action is taken now.
- Breaking Down Barriers to Early Diagnosis
Identifying and breaking down barriers to early diagnosis of ovarian cancer in primary care: NHS partnership interventions and learning
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