Ovacome Summer 2014

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fundraising Tea with Ovacome 2014 Tea with Ovacome has become the social event of the year in the ovarian cancer calendar: smashing records in 2014 with 200 attendees and £8,228 raised for the charity. The T.W.O. team, led by Ovacome member Adele Sewell, is thrilled and has set itself the ambitious goal of £10,000 for the next fundraiser to be held in March 2015. This was the fifth Tea with Ovacome and as usual planning started early. Tickets went on sale in Where it all started: Adele Sewell, early October at event, with her daughter Zindzi. and were sold out six weeks later. Also, Adele secured some top drawer supporters for the entertainment on the day. Key note speaker was Helen Fawkes, the BBC journalist who writes a regular column for Ovacome’s newsletter about her journey with ovarian cancer. “Helen told us her story of living with ovarian cancer with her natural humour and professionalism; at once making us laugh and then the next minute bringing tears to our eyes,” says Adele. Apricot store displays. Then there was the singer Ayanna Blair- Ford. “At a private family event last year, I found myself in the same room as the incredible voice that is Ayanna Blair-Ford. Only 17, doing A-Levels and hoping to pursue a career in architecture. We were delighted when Ayana agreed to be our featured entertainer at this year’s event,” says Adele. But the models - all ovarian cancer patients at some time - were the stars of the show, says Adele. “They brought their energy and enthusiasm to the room.” They were dressed top to toe in clothing from Apricot, generously donated by the fashion retailer for the second year running. They strutted their stuff on three catwalks, each with a different theme. The final one was all teal and included the beautiful Apricot dress which was designed exclusively for Ovacome, Retail therapy with all proceeds from it going to the charity. A special thanks should also be given to Barry M, which provided two manicurists for the day to paint visitors’ nails teal, as well as teal varnish for the goody bags. This was part of the Teal Tips campaign which ran throughout Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in March, raising hundreds of pounds and awareness for the charity. Thanks also to Ovacome supporter, the milliner Philip Treacy who kindly donated another hat to be auctioned on the day, raising £500. All together: Ovacome members empowered in teal. • If you would like to take part in Tea with Ovacome 2015, please email TEAwithOVACOME@yahoo.co.uk. The beautiful teal dress and the Ovacome branded canvas tote bag that fashion retailer Apricot designed especially for us this awareness month have raised a staggering £17,000 for the charity. During March Apricot stores had special displays for the items and staff were dressed in teal. The outlets sold Ovacome pin badges, with collection tins and information on ovarian cancer at tills. This is all thanks to Ovacome member Adele Sewell. She persuaded Apricot to produce the dress and bag after a chance meeting at a friend’s daughter’s 21st birthday party with Karen McGhie, who drove the project forward. The Ovacome dress, above, is still available in sizes 8, 12 and 16 at the reduced price of £25. www.apricotonline.co.uk 8 Phone Ovacome’s nurse led support line on 0845 371 0554 it together
A day of empowerment Some 40 members gathered for Ovacome’s annual Members’ Day in what was an uplifting and informative occasion on the latest treatments, how to deal with sex after surgery and to be confident in dealing with cancer specialists. Topping the bill for the day was Dr Richard Osborne, a medical oncologist at the Dorset Cancer Centre in Poole. He set the tone by telling members that he wanted to “transfer my personal enthusiasm about the progress in treatment for ovarian cancer”, which he said was making steady year-onyear and discernible decade-on-decade improvements. He assured members that we are entering a time of change with the “chemotherapyalone era” coming to an end. Personalised treatment plans, he said, are replacing a one-shot approach for all and multiple options are available to fight the late stage disease which three out of four ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed with. With this being the case, many women will face a life of treating the ovarian cancer as a chronic disease, he said. “We want to cure ovarian cancer, but have to accept that in the majority of cases it will be about disease modification: To make the cancer inactive and give women a longer life. Actually, doctors very rarely cure anything, but modify it as we see with high blood pressure and diabetes.” A fond farewell Noëline Young (pictured above receiving flowers of thanks from Ovacome’s chief executive Louise Bayne) stepped down as chair at Members’ Day after 10 years. Members’ feedback: ‘As always, a great day. My only complaint is that there is never enough time to talk with as many people as one might wish’ ‘It was worth coming for Dr Richard Osborne’s presentation alone- very informative and useful. All speakers very good and well organised day.’ The introduction of avastin, as a maintenance drug to treat late stage disease, fits with this. But while it gives cause for optimism we should not be cracking open the champagne yet, said Dr Osborne. “Avastin is not a magic wand. It has its place, but we should not get too worked up about it. There’s uncertainty about who to treat with it. Those higher-risk women with residual disease after treatment seem to do better.” Other new and exciting strategies are emerging, he said, including personalised therapy based on molecular profiling and immunotherapy, in which the immune system is reactivated to fight the cancer. Then there is supra-radical surgery involving lasers and around 12 hours on the operating table and anti-androgen therapy, to ‘switch off’ male hormones in women (Coral trial). Meanwhile, hot topics being debated in the medical community include giving oophorectomy surgery for BRCA mutation carriers; surgery or chemotherapy first (CHORUS trial); giving dosedense paclitaxel (ICON 8 trial) and PARP inhibitors as maintenance therapy to BRCA carriers (see pages 6 and 7). This is all shows that the chemotherapy alone era is ending, said Dr Osborne. “New strategies are emerging of targeting therapy, turning switches off, using the patient’s personalised genetic make up and harmonising the immune system. But at the same time earlier diagnosis remains a very high priority.” • Talks were also given by Dr Helen Fairhurst on sex after surgery (see pages 10 and 11) and there was a confidence building workshop from trainer Deb Puleston (see Ovacome’s autumn/winter 2014 newsletter). Senior help members’ day Dr Richard Osborne: end of chemo-only era. Senior research associate, Lindsay Fraser, appealed for members to help her with a new area of research ‘exploring the journey of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer’ in the Gynaecological Cancer Research Centre at UCL’s Institute for Women’s Health. The research will explore the journey of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, from the patient perspective by talking to women and their families, rather than examining medical records. Seven women came forward, but Lindsay sill needs women aged 70-plus, along with their partners, adult children and friends to help with the scope of the first interview study. Contact l.fraser@ucl.ac.uk or phone Lindsay on 020 3447 2114. it together Phone Ovacome’s nurse led support line on 0845 371 0554 9
Page 1 and 2: www.ovacome.org.uk Newsletter summe
Page 3 and 4: news Teaching ovarian cancer away f
Page 5 and 6: Around the world support Cancer cha
Page 7: ask the doctor It’s not over yet,
Page 11 and 12: feature symptoms such as hot flushe
Page 13 and 14: postbag A safe place Meet Ovacome
Page 15 and 16: postbag The comfort of words The Ov

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