"I took three trips to the emergency department to get my diagnosis."
Ovarian cancer survivor Tash Crosby, who found out she had the disease at 36 years old, said the difficulty Kiwi women face in getting diagnosed early is "super, super scary".
The rate of New Zealanders with ovarian cancer is set to grow by 29 percent in the next 10 years, according to data from the World Health Organization.
Appearing on AM, Crosby said 85 percent of Kiwi women with ovarian cancer aren't diagnosed until they are in the later stages of the disease when treatment options are "more limited".
Crosby, who started gynaecological cancer foundation Talk Peach in 2019, said when her symptoms began, she initially thought she had endometriosis.
"I had abdominal pain, I was tired, I had back pain, change in discharge and I also had indigestion and bloating."
It wasn't until her third trip to the emergency department that she was diagnosed with cancer.
Her experience is not uncommon; Crosby said a third of ovarian cancer cases are getting diagnosed in the emergency department.
Her interview on AM prompted many viewers to contact the show, sharing their difficulties with the health system.
"There is something incredibly wrong with this health system," one viewer emailed.
They explained a friend told their doctor for two years that something was wrong, but they didn't believe her.
"She requested scans, and they gave her scans but not the ones she requested.
"Three weeks ago, she was taken to hospital by ambulance. . . with stage four ovarian cancer."
Another viewer shared: "I have been asking and asking for an MRI through specialists and doctors after all other scans, have all these symptoms and am being pushed back on…. this is both frustrating and very concerning."
"It's safe to say ovarian cancer is definitely hugely underfunded and resourced across the world, but particularly in New Zealand," Crosby said.
"I think a big barrier to women getting diagnosed early is that we don't have any clinical guidelines in New Zealand.
"For example, with breast cancer here, if you present with a lump, your GP sort of has a pathway to follow. Whereas ovarian cancer, we don't have any guidelines like that. And so that pathway to diagnosis varies depending on the practitioner or region really."
Crosby said women could not rely on cervical smear tests to detect the disease.
"Cervical screening does not check for any of the gynaecological cancers, it only checks for changes to the cervix."
She said although learning the symptoms of the disease was crucial, it was also important to speak up when seeing a GP.
"It's really about knowing the signs and being able to advocate for yourself at the doctor's office."
New medicine a 'huge step forward'
A newly funded medicine is now available for Kiwi women in the advanced stages of the disease, which Crosby said is a 'huge step forward'.
Crosby said 70 percent of people with ovarian cancer have a recurrence and while the medicine wasn't a miracle cure, it was "incredible" to have another treatment option.
