Oxfordshire woman says 'ovarian cancer is silent killer’ after mum told she had water infection

• ITV News Meridian's Penny Silvester spoke to a woman who lost her mum to ovarian cancer

A woman from Oxfordshire who lost her mum to ovarian cancer says if something doesn't feel right, go to the doctor and get it checked out.Emma Cox's mum Rose died in December last year. The 64-year-old had ovarian cancer - a disease which is not picked up through routine screening.

Five years ago, when Rose described having many of the symptoms, she was told she had a water infection.

Now Emma wants to raise awareness of the symptoms - and is running the Oxford Half Marathon in October to raise money for Target Ovarian Cancer.

• Emma Cox has spoken about the need for women to be listened to by GPs.

Emma Cox said: “There needs to be more awareness about the early symptoms and work with the GPs to actually listen to women when they say things aren’t quite right.

"They're being dismissed for urine infections, stress or IBS but they need to be investigated a lot earlier. If you think, in yourself, you don’t feel right, get it checked out.

“This really is a silent killer because the symptoms are just dismissed when they need to be investigated for this early diagnosis which can then lead to treatment and save more lives.”

11 women die every day from ovarian cancer and at present there is no screening process.

Ovarian cancer is the sixth-biggest cancer killer of women, yet many are not aware of the main symptoms.

They include, frequently having a swollen tummy or feeling bloated. Pain in the tummy or between the hips. No appetite or feeling full quickly after eating. An urgent need to urinate or needing to more often. And perhaps back pain, feeling tired or losing weight without trying.

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