This article has been updated on 2 July, with quotes from Professor Gabra from Ovarian Cancer Action.


The legacy of Pierce Brosnan's 41-year-old daughter Charlotte, who died of ovarian cancer after a brave three-year-battle, is that it shines a spotlight on a type of cancer that is notoriously difficult to detect, and that it doesn't just happen to women in their 60s.


At present, if diagnosed with ovarian cancer, less than 50% of women survive longer than five years.


Ovarian cancer is the fourth biggest cancer risk for women in the UK.


Speaking to HuffPost UK Lifestyle on behalf of Ovarian Cancer Action, Professor Hani Gabra, a world leading ovarian cancer expert and the Director of the Ovarian Cancer Research Centre at Imperial College, spoke of a new trial that may change that: "There is no screening test for ovarian cancer, and a lot of people are working on it. A huge CTOX trial is taking place with 200,000 women, who are attending GP surgeries and are being screened with ultrasound.


"The problem with screening is that at present, the tests aren’t sufficiently sensitive to detect ovarian cancer. So the consequences of doing a test and finding a lump in the pelvis is that you have to do an operation. If you have to do 40 operations to find one case you’ll end up killing someone. Where data has been published, it doesn’t seem to be beneficial, but this trial. the results of which will be published in 2015 may change that."


As screening isn't an option, it is even more important that women learn to read the signs for themselves.


Most women are unable to name one symptom of ovarian cancer, according to a new study reported in The Independent.


Research by Target Ovarian Cancer has found that almost six out of 10 women, including those at higher risk, were unable to recall any of the 10 symptoms of the disease.


Professor Gabra says however: "The key thing with the symptoms is if you are experiencing them on MOST days. If you go for a meal and get gastroenteritis, you’ll get all of those symptoms, but then it settles quite quickly. If you go to the GP – quite often – they will think of ovarian cancer straight away, others think it is a bug, which can lead to a wait."




Story continues below the slideshow:



Here are five signs of ovarian cancer to become aware of...





  • Bloating


    Increased abdominal size and persistent bloating (not bloating that comes and goes)




  • Abdominal Pain


    Persistent pelvic and abdominal pain




  • Feeling Full


    Difficulty eating and feeling full quickly, or feeling nauseous




  • Frequent Urge To Urinate


    This symptom may be present in some women with the disease.




  • Back Pain


    This symptom may be present in some women with the disease.




  • Changes In Bowel Habits (Diarrhoea Or Constipation)


    This symptom may be present in some women with the disease.




  • Fatigue


    This symptom may be present in some women with the disease.







According to the study, conducted by the Health Behaviour Research Centre at University College London, one-year survival rates for ovarian cancer are considerably lower in the UK than in comparable countries.


The type of ovarian cancer that tends to affect younger women, is usually related to genetics. He adds: "It typically affects women in their late 60s but as has been indicated with the passing of Pierce Brosnan's daughter, there is another group who have inherited genes which are faulty – then there is a predisposition to ovarian cancer. The clues come from someone in your family getting ovarian cancer at a young age or from there being multiple cancer in the family – mainly breast or ovarian."


For more information about ovarian cancer, visit Ovarian Cancer Action.


Also on HuffPost:






  • Shannon Miller


    The most decorated American Olympic gymnast has said she <a href="http://www.lhj.com/blogs/ladieslounge/2011/09/14/olympic-gymnast-shannon-miller-on-ovarian-cancer/" target="_hplink">almost delayed getting checked</a> by her gynecologist in February of 2011, on the day her doctor found a baseball-sized tumor on one of her ovaries.

    It turned out to be a germ cell malignancy, a form of ovarian cancer <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/gymnastics/news/story?id=6158854" target="_hplink">more common in teenagers and women under 30</a>, according to ESPN.

    After having the ovary and cyst removed, Miller underwent nine weeks of chemotherapy. She told ABC in the video above that she had no symptoms, which is why she's particularly passionate about raising awareness about early detection.

    She has detailed her treatment on her health and wellness website, <a href="http://shannonmillerlifestyle.com/" target="_hplink">Shannon Miller Lifestyle</a>.




  • Coretta Scott King


    After U.S. doctors deemed her <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5180053" target="_hplink">ovarian cancer terminal</a>, the civil rights pioneer's family and friends said King sought out alternative treatment in Mexico, where she <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1154996,00.html" target="_hplink">passed away at the age of 78</a>, in 2006.




  • Gilda Radner


    The comedic actress, famous for her 1975 to 1980 stint on "Saturday Night Live", died in 1989 from ovarian cancer. She handled the disease as only a comedian could: with humor.

    <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20115242,00.html" target="_hplink">As <em>People</em> wrote</a>:
    <blockquote>Even as she was dying, Gilda Radner went for laughs. At home, Gene Wilder remembers, she enacted her infamous "Saturday Night" character Roseanne Roseannadanna, shouting at the cancer cells invading her body, "Hey, what are you trying to do in here? Make me sick?"</blockquote>
    Her husband, actor Gene Wilder, became active in raising awareness after her death for both early detection and the need for easily accessible support systems for cancer patients, through the organization named for his wife, <a href="http://www.gildasclub.org/" target="_hplink">Gilda's Club</a>.




  • Evelyn Lauder


    A champion of breast cancer awareness, Lauder, daughter-in-law of Estee Lauder, created the Pink Ribbon campaign and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, after her own diagnosis of breast cancer in 1989.

    While breast and ovarian cancers have been linked to the same hereditary gene, in 2007, Lauder <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/nyregion/evelyn-h-lauder-champion-of-breast-cancer-research-dies-at-75.html" target="_hplink">developed ovarian cancer unrelated to her breast cancer</a>, a spokeswoman for the Estee Lauder Companies told the <em>New York Times</em>.

    She died from the disease in November of 2011, at 75.




  • Jessica Tandy


    Famous for playing Blanche Dubois on Broadway and the title role in "Driving Miss Daisy," the actress <a href="http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-09-12/features/1994255176_1_jessica-tandy-driving-miss-miss-daisy" target="_hplink">passed away in 1994</a> at age 85 from ovarian cancer, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0607.html" target="_hplink">according to her husband, actor Hume Cronyn</a>.


    <em>Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan-light/2091697951/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Alan Light</a></em>




  • Diem Brown


    While her acting credentials don't hold a candle to Broadway, a younger generation has a famous face of ovarian cancer all their own in reality star Diem Brown, of MTV's "The Real World" fame. She was <a href="http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2006/10/cancer-diary-diem-brown" target="_hplink">diagnosed at age 24 with stage II ovarian cancer</a>, and had one ovary, several lymph nodes and part of one of her fallopian tubes removed, <em>Glamour</em> reported.

    "I had no idea why this was happening to me," she told <em>Glamour</em> of finding out she was sick. "I'm a healthy girl: I'm a vegetarian; I don't smoke; I barely drink. I kept thinking, I have so much to do; I'm not ready to die."

    While the survival rate is much lower for women whose ovarian cancer is diagnosed in advanced stages, Brown is currently healthy, having gone on to tackle additional TV challenges with her Real World and Road Rules colleagues.




  • Patrick Dempsey


    Ovarian cancer comes back in about 70 percent of women diagnosed. That's what happened to Patrick Dempsey's mother, Amanda, in 1999. The actor helped his mother through chemotherapy then, as well as in 1996 when her disease was first caught, at stage IV.

    <a href="http://www.webmd.com/ovarian-cancer/features/patrick-dempsey-cancer-caregiver" target="_hplink">Survival rates aren't promising</a> for most advanced cases, but, according to WebMD, Amanda "seems to have beaten those odds."

    Dempsey went on to found <a href="http://www.dempseycenter.org/content/4078/Patricks_Story/" target="_hplink">The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing</a>, dedicated to providing education, support and wellness services, according to its website.




  • Angelina Jolie


    The actress's mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died in January of 2007 at age 56, after a <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20062643,00.html" target="_hplink">7-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer</a>.

    "There are no words to express what an amazing woman and mother she was," Jolie and brother James Haven told <em>People</em> in a statement. "She was our best friend."




  • Kyle MacLachlan


    The "Desperate Housewives" and "Sex and the City" actor's mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the early 1980s, he told <em>People</em>, and died from it in 1986.

    "I was devastated by it and wanted to do something to help," he said. He teamed up with Callaway Golf Foundation and the Entertainment Industry Foundation in 2008 to <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20423321,00.html" target="_hplink">film a PSA</a> aimed not just at women, but men, too. "Every man has a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, friends," he said. "It might encourage husbands to ... take care of the women in our lives."




  • Ray Romano


    The actor's cousin Linda is an <a href="http://www.ovariancancer.org/help-spread-the-word/our-celebrity-friends/" target="_hplink">ovarian cancer survivor</a> and director of <a href="http://www.ovariancancer.org/about-us/survivors-teaching-students/" target="_hplink">Survivors Teaching Students</a>, a program aimed at teaching medical students about the symptoms of ovarian cancer.

    He filmed this short video <a href="http://www.ovariancancer.org/help-spread-the-word/our-celebrity-friends/" target="_hplink">asking viewers for their support</a> in raising awareness for the disease.




  • Eva Longoria


    Like "Desperate Housewives" co-star MacLaughlan, Longoria has also teamed up with the Entertainment Industry Foundation and the Callaway Golf Foundation to raise awareness about ovarian cancer.

    She is also a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eva-longoria-parker" target="_hplink">supporter of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund</a>, the leading independent, non-profit organization for advancing research, raising awareness and finding a cure for ovarian cancer in the U.S.




  • Kelly Ripa


    The TV personality, who is featured on TV ads for Electrolux, has helped <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video?id=5714650" target="_hplink">raise awareness of ovarian cancer</a>. For each participant in various initiatives, <a href="http://www.kelly-confidential.com/" target="_hplink">Electrolux donates $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation</a>.




  • Janet Jackson


    In the December 2009 issue of <em>InStyle</em>, the singer was photographed wearing the Cartier Love Charity bracelet. For each bracelet sold, Cartier <a href="http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20205734_20207002_20470084,00.html" target="_hplink">donated $200 to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance</a>.

    Jackson was inspired to support the foundation <a href="http://www.ovariancancer.org/2009/11/18/abc-special-with-janet-jackson/janet/" target="_hplink">on behalf of a friend</a> who had been diagnosed with the disease at age 34. "She's been in remission for nine years, but just to think of the possibility of losing her was terrible," Jackson told the magazine.

    Bracelet sales raised over $100,000 for the cause, she added.