If you're worried you might have ovarian cancer, see your doctor. Diagnosing ovarian cancer early gives you the best chance of being cured.

Ovarian cancer is quite rare, so your GP may not think of it as the reason for your symptoms straight away. Be sure to tell your GP if someone in your family has had this cancer, because that can increase your risk.

To find out if you could have ovarian cancer, your GP might do some or all of the following.

• Ask about your symptoms, your past illnesses and operations, and your family's health.

• Do a physical examination. This will include listening to your lungs and feeling your abdomen.

• Do a pelvic examination. This is an examination of your vaginal area. After looking at the outside, the doctor will insert a small piece of plastic or metal (a speculum) into your vagina to look at the inside. Then he or she will check that your fallopian tubes, womb and ovaries feel normal.

If your GP thinks you need some more tests, you will probably be referred to a specialist in hospital. This will usually be a gynaecologist, a doctor who specialises in women's health.

If your doctor thinks you need to see a specialist you should get an appointment within two weeks.^[25]

The specialist may do some or all of the following tests.

• An ultrasound scan: This lets the specialist see the organs inside your abdomen and pelvis.

• A rectal examination: During this examination, the specialist puts a finger into your rectum to feel for anything unusual in your pelvis.

• A blood test to see how much CA 125 you have: CA 125 is a protein in your blood. Women with ovarian cancer tend to have lots of it. So if you have high levels of CA 125, it could mean that you have ovarian cancer. But only half of women who have ovarian cancer have high CA 125, and other things can give you a high level too. So this test alone can't confirm whether you have ovarian cancer. Doctors are working on other, more specific tests, but they are still in the early stages.^[26]

• A sample of fluid from your chest or abdomen: If you have a build-up of fluid in your abdomen or chest, the specialist may take some of this fluid and test it for cancer. Fluid can build up in these areas if cancer cells spread to the lining of your abdomen or chest. The lining becomes damaged and makes fluid to try to soothe it. Before collecting some of the fluid, the specialist will give you a painkiller to numb the area (a local anaesthetic). Then the specialist will use a small needle to collect fluid. This will later be checked for cancer under a microscope.

The specialist probably won't be able to say for certain if you have ovarian cancer after these tests. The only way to tell for certain is to do an operation and look at your ovaries. So if the specialist thinks you could have ovarian cancer, you will need to have surgery.

For more information, see Surgery for ovarian cancer.