Educate and raise awareness to make ovarian cancer visible

The report “The social challenge of ovarian cancer” has among its objectives to advance awareness and visibility of ovarian cancer, both at a social and health level, to improve the survival and quality of life of those affected

Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women and the leading cause of death from gynecological cancer in Spain, where some 3,300 cases are diagnosed annually, of which 58.9 percent die.

The Association of People Affected by Ovarian Cancer (ASACO) and the Fundación Más Que Ideas (MQI) promote the visibility of this tumor and favor reflection at a social and health level, under the initiative “The social challenge of ovarian cancer”.

This document has been prepared by twenty health professionals, patients, relatives of those affected and representatives of associations against ovarian cancer.

Its objective is to focus on making earlier diagnoses and obtaining better results in terms of survival and quality of life for women suffering from this disease.

In addition, they want to promote dialogue around self-care and recognition of gynecological health.

Multidisciplinary approach and sex education

The report sets out four essential priorities:

• Educate society and health groups on the recognition of symptoms
• Facilitate access to specialized surgery and a multidisciplinary approach
• Educate in gynecological, sexual and reproductive health
• Training health professionals in communication

To do this, they propose a series of actions based on awareness and sensitization as fundamental axes of their campaigns.

Both associations detail that 80% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are in advanced stages of the disease.

Although the patients recognize the agility of the process once diagnosed, they believe that the recognition of symptoms should improve.

Six out of 10 affected women state that they have no previous knowledge of the disease, which, added to the non-specificity of the symptoms, makes it difficult to recognize cancer early.

Recognition of symptoms is vital for early diagnosis. Image courtesy of ASACO.

The specialization of the medical team is essential to achieve success in surgery. The document states that the doctor must dedicate at least 50% of his clinical practice to this type of operation.

Ovarian cancer not only has consequences on physical health, but also emotional and social ones. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach to patients and the integration of gynecological oncology is considered key.

In these terms, self-knowledge and knowledge about gynecological health are key factors, according to experts.

Addressing the reproductive and sexual repercussions and achieving the involvement of health personnel can help improve the quality of life of women affected by this cancer.

Finally, the associations express the need to train health personnel in communication to transmit information to patients and families more empathetically and effectively.

Raise awareness and sensitize to save lives

The report It also highlights the importance of raising awareness through raising awareness and attracting the attention of society.

Women in general and also men should know about it in order to be able to transfer this problem to all people and support the women affected.

Experts recommend that information be personalized by age groups based on involvement, empathy, clarity of messages and work with influential people, especially on social networks.

What happens to sexuality with ovarian cancer?

One of the main demands is the treatment of the sexuality of those affected with ovarian cancer. In the report they clarify that attention must be paid to favor a better self-knowledge of the body and know how to deal with sexual problems.

The sexologist, sociologist and health and gender consultant, Irene Coldexplains to EFEsalud that “sexuality must be addressed first from oncology.”

“The professional should ask what life is like for the woman who has just been diagnosed. Ovarian cancer has an unexpected course and is very irruptive in the person’s life cycle. It appears out of nowhere and this at the level of emotional management is very important”, says the specialist.

The sexologist affirms that “health professionals must take the initiative to take sexual function into account and address it directly in consultation”.

Likewise, these doctors must contact sexual health professionals to seek advice and be able to advise the patient.

Psychological treatment has to go hand in hand with treatment of sexuality, according to Aterido: “The pelvic area, where ovarian cancer develops, is a fundamental area for the female and male sexual experience. The communication of bad news is getting better, but sexuality is not yet addressed”.

anticipate to treat

It is recommended that the affected woman be able to ask about the consequences of cancer and treatment, as well as the impact it will have on her sexual life.

“We have to anticipate the questions -he adds- The recently diagnosed does not have to be afraid to ask everything and precisely all the things that scare him. It is important to ask about the consequences at all levels of the organism”.

The sexologist recalls that “sometimes oncology saves your life, but it is important during and see what happens after.”

Issues related to pleasure is another topic that is usually dealt with in sexology in cancer patients.

Irene Aterido recalls that “no cancer treatment will affect the pleasure signals of the central nervous system, so the ability to feel pleasure, love and affection is not lost.”

Communicate the bad news also to the couple

Another important aspect is cancer treatment together with the patient’s sentimental and/or sexual partner.

This expert points out that “there are no general recommendations, but the partner should be included in the communication, if the affected person so wishes.”

“The right to give information about her health belongs to the woman herself and we must attend to the rhythms of diagnosis of grief, as well as consider the stage in which the couple is at the time of diagnosis,” he concludes.

Asperger Syndrome awareness and information

Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is a condition that accompanies the person throughout his life and is included within the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Every February 18 marks its International Day. It manifests between 3 and 5 children per 1,000 births

Image of the Ita Group on the occasion of International Asperger Syndrome Day

According to data from the Confederation of Asperger Spain, 450,000 people in Spain suffer from ASD; 27 percent of them have Asperger’s condition.

Asperger’s is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a genetic basis that manifests itself at an early age and is mainly characterized by difficulty in social relationships.

“Despite the fact that Asperger’s can manifest itself in different ways, depending on the characteristics of each person, they all have some common characteristics such as: difficulty in social interaction and lack of social skills, difficulty in expressing and channeling emotions, difficulty in using of language and understanding double meanings, repetitive behaviors, restriction of limited interests to very specific areas, dependency on routines and habits and intolerance to change”, explains Berta Massaguer, coordinator of the Ita Neurodevelopment Unit.

The objective of the Ita Group’s mental health specialists is to publicize Asperger’s Syndrome, make it visible and make the population aware of the needs and peculiarities of people with this condition.

To do this, they have launched an awareness campaign about Asperger’s to publicize the peculiarities of this condition.

With the help of some of the patients of the Neurodevelopment Unit who present Asperger’s condition, it is explained what it is and how they experience it in a video.

“Asperger’s is sometimes a world of rigidity that limits us to get out of our boxes.” “Difficulties become positive over time if we work on them,” patients say.

The Ita Group carries out interventions that allow those who have Asperger’s Syndrome to know themselves, encourage emotional introspection and acquire skills that help them cope on a day-to-day basis, in addition to providing tools to families and the environment so that the relationship is better, since that one of the fundamental problems manifests itself in social relationships.

This campaign consists of three capsules.

In the first video, some patients with Asperger’s condition explain in the first person what this syndrome consists of.

In the second, Berta Massaguer, a psychologist at Ita and coordinator of the neurodevelopment unit, offers a therapeutic vision and explains how the unit works with these patients.

The third and last video consists of a series of tips to help these people feel more comfortable in their day to day life.

CNIO campaign to raise awareness about cancer research

“It can change your life” or “In 2021 it touched 276,239” are some of the messages of the campaign that the National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) has launched to make people aware of the importance of cancer research

María Blasco, director of the National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), during the presentation of the campaign “The Lottery that touches you the most”, on the occasion of World Cancer Day/ EFE/Rodrigo Jiménez

The campaign, launched on the occasion of World Cancer Day, February 4, bears the slogan “The lottery that touches the most” and has been presented in a lottery administration in the center of Madrid in which throughout the day of February 3 The CNIO has informed citizens of the importance of donations in the work of this cancer research center.

“Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases. One in three people, men and women, will have it. That is why we are here, because we want to raise awareness about the importance of research and because the more research, the more treatments, more cures and less fear,” the researcher and director of the CNIO, María Blasco, told EFE.

With these donations, which are managed through the “Friends of the CNIO” initiative, 100% of the proceeds will be dedicated to hiring researchers who work on different projects to understand “the molecular origin of cancer, which is common to many types of tumours”, points out Blasco.

Today, half of cancer cases can be cured but another 50% do not have effective treatments. “There is a long way to go in research to be able to control them all” and to understand metastasis, “a process associated with cancer that continues to be the greatest cause of death and that is still largely unknown”, points out María Blasco.

Donations can be made on the ‘CNIO Friends’ website, through the telephone line that the CNIO has set up for this purpose or through the BIZUM code 03427.

Also within the framework of World Day, for the next 12 months, the CNIO is exhibiting the piece Intra-Venus at its facilities in Madrid, a sculpture made of Carrara marble that aims to give visibility to the personal and emotional journey that women who have or have had cancer.

“Cancer is a disease wrapped in metaphors, a disease that is not shown as it is but is hidden behind expressions of war such as ‘winning the battle’ or ‘fighting the scourge’ and that is a mistake and a problem”, has denounced Maria Blasco.

The work, made by the visual artist from Granada Marina Vargas, shows the author’s real body after going through a cancer process, in an attempt to look at the disease head-on and to show all that it entails.

Real reality of cancer

The sculpture represents a woman showing the true reality of cancer: she is missing a breast and shows the effects of chemotherapy on her body. Her raised arm, as a sign of her activism. “It bears witness,” sums up Vargas.

«I wanted to make this process visible with my body, as a generator of knowledge. To show what is there, make it lighter for those who suffer from this disease and talk about it without sweetening the process, “explains the author.

In the presentation of this work, Vargas stressed that artists have an essential role in making cancer visible, a disease that is diagnosed in one in three people and that does not end with treatment but “goes much further “, has warned.

And it is that only 53 percent of women who have suffered cancer return to their jobs after therapy, because in many cases, they are fired for fear of a relapse.

This disease also causes economic problems and delays the professional career of women, among other factors, recalled Marian Fernández Cao, professor and expert in gender imbalance.

Research, cancer and art

For all these reasons, Fernández Cao, together with Marina Vargas and a dozen artists who have had or have the disease, have created the Intra-Venus Association, a non-profit organization proposed as a collaborative network to make cancer visible.

Its name, Intra-Venus, is inspired by the North American artist Hannah Wilke (1940-1993) -a pioneer of the art approach who recorded the process of her illness on video tapes to show the true face of cancer-, and her goal It is to act as a platform for social activism, to favor the labor reintegration of female creators, to make cancer visible and, above all, to accompany women in this process.

“The CNIO had to be part of all this. Intra-Venus and the CNIO had to share a common space”, stressed María Blasco, because research and art are two great ways of generating knowledge and “avoiding metaphors”, concluded the director of the CNIO.

Every day, more than 400 scientists work in the CNIO in cancer research.

María Blasco (left) next to the sculpture and the artist Marina Vargas/Courtesy photo