All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ovarian Cancer

Find out what the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ovarian Cancer is, how you can get involved and what the group has achieved.

About the APPG

Set up in 2010, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ovarian Cancer is made up of MPs and peers and meets several times during the year. Target Ovarian Cancer provides secretariat duties for the group. 

The purpose of the APPG is:

  • to provide a forum for MPs and Peers to discuss ovarian cancer-related issues
  • to raise areas of concern with government or other policymakers
  • to raise the profile of ovarian cancer within parliament
  • to seek opportunities to help improve survival and quality of life for women with ovarian cancer.

Reports and publications 

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ovarian Cancer’s first report is entitled 'Diagnosing ovarian cancer sooner: what more can be done?' [PDF]. It was the result of two oral evidence sessions where MPs heard from women who have had a diagnosis of ovarian cancer as well as representatives from Public Health England and NHS England. 

Find out more 

If you would like more information or would like to join the APPG mailing list to hear about future meetings, please contact [email protected]. You can also follow the APPG on Twitter

The APPG's most recent work

2023

  • 1 March 2023. The APPG hosted its annual Teal Heroes event at Parliament to mark Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. It was wonderful to see nearly 50 parliamentarians raising awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer. To take a look at all of the teal heroes who took part on the day, please visit the APPG's Twitter feed: @APPG_OC.
  • 20 March 2023. The APPG on Ovarian Cancer held a joint roundtable with the APPG on Menopause. The roundtable was a closed session for healthcare professionals and aimed to explore some of the challenges faced by women with more complex menopause care needs seeking support across different parts of the health system and how these pathways can be improved.  Read the minutes of the meeting here. 
2022
  • 1 March 2022. The APPG hosted its annual Teal Heroes event at Parliament to mark Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. It was wonderful to see over 50 parliamentarians raising awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer, including the Speaker of the House. To take a look at all of the teal heroes who took part on the day, please visit the APPG's Twitter feed: @APPG_OC.
  • 17 May 2022. The APPG held its Annual General Meeting where the group agreed the forward programme for the next year and elected the group's officers. Read the results of the AGM.
  • 22 November 2022. The APPG held a joint meeting with the APPG on Menopause on the importance of information and support being provided to women who are going through early or surgical menopause. 
2021
  • 30 November 2021. The APPG hosted a virtual meeting looking at the importance of symptoms awareness and the ‘Help Us Help You’ abdominal symptoms campaign. Dr Victoria Barber discussed the importance of being aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer and GP training in this area. We also heard from Della, who shared her personal experience of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer and shared her concerns around GP awareness.
  • 24 March 2021. The APPG held its Annual General Meeting where the group agreed the forward programme for the next year and elected the group's officers. Read the results of the AGM. Parliamentarians in attendance also raised awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. 
  • 2 February 2021. The APPG hosted a virtual meeting looking at the Ovarian Cancer Audit Feasibility Pilot, which is mapping ovarian cancer care, surgery and survival across the NHS in England for the first time. Dr Andy Nordin, Chair of the Ovarian Cancer Audit Feasibility Pilot Steering Group, discussed the audit's findings which have revealed significant regional variation in the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. Dr Nordin also spoke about what next steps are needed to drive improvements in clinical practice. 
2020
  • 9 July 2020. The APPG hosted a virtual meeting looking at the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the diagnosis, treatment and support of women with ovarian cancer and the priorities for the NHS during its recovery period. Victoria Barber GP shared how diagnosis and referrals have been affected, Professor Sudha Sundar discussed the impact on treatment and Helen Manderville explained how the pandemic has affected the support Clinical Nurse Specialists have been able to offer. Amy Van Wyk, who has ovarian cancer, also shared her story and some of the challenges she's faced during the pandemic.
  • 11 March 2020. The APPG hosted its annual Teal Heroes event at Parliament to mark Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. It was fantastic to see so many parliamentarians raising awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer. To take a look at all of the teal heroes who took part on the day, please visit the APPG's Twitter feed: @APPG_OC.
2019
  • 15 October 2019. The APPG held its Annual General Meeting where the group agreed the forward programme for the next year and elected the group's officers. Read the results of the AGM. Following the AGM, the APPG held a meeting on the importance of Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) for women with ovarian cancer. Lynn Buckley, Gynae-oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist and Advance Nurse Practitioner from Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, gave an inspiring talk about her role providing vital support to women with ovarian cancer. We then heard from Antonia Borneo, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the Royal College of Nursing, who spoke about the workforce pressures on nurses, shortages in specialist nurses and what could be done to address these problems.

  • 20 March 2019. The APPG on Ovarian Cancer held its annual Teal Hero photo drop-in for MPs to mark Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. 47 MPs joined us to have their photos taken dressed as superheroes while holding boards with the symptoms of ovarian cancer. Those that attended received a briefing on key policy priorities and agreed a quote to be included in a local press release about the event and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

2018
  • 12 December 2018. The APPG held a joint meeting with the APPG on Pancreatic Cancer on multidisciplinary diagnostic services. The meeting looked at how these services could speed up diagnosis of ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer. The meeting was opened by advocates Christine and Dave. Christine told us about her experience of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2013 and Dave shared the devastating impact of pancreatic cancer on his family. The meeting then heard from Sara Hiom, Director of Early Diagnosis and Health Professional Engagement at Cancer Research UK about how the ACE programme had been involved in the pilots of multidisciplinary diagnostic services as well as some early findings from these pilots. Dr Andrew Millar, Clinical Lead of the multidisciplinary diagnostic service at UCLH, then updated the group on how the service works in practice. 
  • 30 October 2018. Members of the APPG took part in a Westminster Hall debate on the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. 
  • 10 October 2018. Sharon Hodgson MP and Target Ovarian Cancer met with Steve Brine MP, who was Minister for Public Heath, to discuss the findings of the APPG's inquiry: 'Diagnosing ovarian cancer sooner: what more can be done?'. The meeting focused on the need for a public awareness campaigns on the symptoms of ovarian cancer, a review of the referral pathway for suspected ovarian cancer and the inclusion of ovarian cancer in the cancer dashboard.
  • 12 September 2018. The APPG held its Annual General Meeting. At the meeting the group agreed the forward programme for the next year and elected the group's officers. Results of the AGM
  • 8 May 2018. The APPG launched the report of the group's first ever inquiry 'Diagnosing ovarian cancer sooner: what more can be done?' [PDF] to mark World Ovarian Cancer Day 2018. The report examines what more needs be done in the prevention, screening, awareness and diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
  • 14 March 2018. Teal Heroes photo opportunity – MPs showed their support for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month by dressing as teal heroes to raise awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer. We were delighted that 14 MPs came to show their support. We had some really great conversations with each MP about how they can help us reach our goal of making sure women with ovarian cancer have the best chances of survival.
  • 20 February 2018. The APPG held two oral evidence sessions as part of the group's inquiry 'Diagnosing ovarian cancer sooner: what more can be done?'. The group heard from a range of witnesses, to take stock of progress to date in diagnosing ovarian cancer as well what new ideas and approaches could be adopted.
2017 
  • 15 November 2017. This meeting looked at ovarian cancer treatments and the current approval process as well as hearing about new treatments for ovarian cancer, Rucaparib and Niraparib.
  • 12 September 2017. The APPG held its Annual General Meeting where the group agreed the forward programme for the next year and elected the group's officers.
2016 
  • 20 July 2016. The APPG held its Annual General Meeting where the group agreed the forward programme for the next year and elected the group's officers.
  • 2 March 2016. This meeting focused on Routes to Diagnosis data. Chris Carrigan of the National Cancer Intelligence Network presented data on how women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, including the numbers of women diagnosed in A&E. Esther Matthews described to the meeting her experience of being initially misdiagnosed, which meant that by the time she was finally diagnosed her cancer had reached stage IV.
  • 3 February 2016. A joint APPG meeting with the APPGs on Brain Tumours, Breast Cancer, Cancer, and Pancreatic Cancer on the Cancer Drugs Fund.
2015 
  • 4 November 2015. The group that looked access to cancer drugs across the UK.The meeting provided an overview of the approval process for new drugs and how this varies across the UK.
  • 10 June 2015. The APPG held its Annual General Meeting where the group agreed the forward programme for the next year and elected the group's officers.
  • 4 March 2015. The meeting covered the important issues of new treatments, clinical trials and genetic testing. This included access to trials for women with ovarian cancer and the importance of  BRCA testing for women with ovarian cancer.