‘Can men get ovarian cancer?’: Charity sparks outrage after claiming anyone can get the disease ‘regardless of gender’

An ovarian cancer charity has been accused of endangering women and insulting victims by claiming anyone can get the disease ‘regardless of gender’.

Ovarian Cancer Action sparked outrage with its tweet, which featured the LGBT+ rainbow flag and said: ‘Let’s raise awareness by asking: can men get ovarian cancer?’

It added: ‘Anyone with ovaries, regardless of gender identity, may be at risk of ovarian cancer.’

TV presenter Piers Morgan was one of the X users who commented on the post, saying: ‘What the hell are you talking about?

“Only WOMEN have ovaries, and if you think men do too, you’re nowhere near public health.”

The NHS has previously been accused of removing women from its health pages on women’s cancers, including ovarian cancer. It caused outrage when it removed the word “women” from its main ovarian cancer page and replaced it with a sentence that read: “Anyone with ovaries can get ovarian cancer, but it mainly affects people over 50.”

Fiona McAnena, campaigns director at human rights charity Sex Matters, said: ‘This divisive stunt by Ovarian Cancer Action in the name of celebrating Pride Month is an insult to women who have suffered from the disease, as well as their families.

‘Men cannot get ovarian cancer. To suggest otherwise is misleading and dangerous, especially when it comes to the health of women with learning disabilities or women who speak English as a second language.

‘Public health charities must use clear, sex-based language to communicate.

“The language of gender identity ideology obscures the reality that sex matters in healthcare.”

The Ovarian Cancer Action website describes ovaries as ‘part of the female reproductive system’ and its homepage states: ‘Women don’t just deserve better, they deserve the best.’

Ovarian cancer is said to kill around 4,100 women a year in Britain and the disease occurs when abnormal cells grow in and around the ovaries and fallopian tube.

The disease is often diagnosed late because the symptoms are common and are often mistaken for irritable bowel syndrome.

These include bloating, stomach pain, difficulty eating, and increased urination.

In 2022, MailOnline revealed that the NHS had quietly removed the word ‘women’ from advice pages on ovarian and uterine cancer.

It caused outrage when it removed the word “women” from its main ovarian cancer page and replaced it with a sentence that read: “Anyone with ovaries can get ovarian cancer, but it mainly affects people over 50.”

Health chiefs later reversed the change after being scolded by a series of health secretaries who demanded the NHS return to sex-based language.

Announcing changes to the NHS Constitution in April this year, Victoria Atkins said the term ‘woman’ should not be ‘eradicated from our language to be inclusive and welcoming’.

She said the update will “ensure that biological sex is respected” and that the language is “clear” so that pregnant women are not referred to as “service users” to strengthen inclusivity.

Ovarian cancer is a rare form of the disease that develops in the ovaries, the female organs that produce eggs. It is often called a ‘silent killer’ because symptoms only appear late in the disease

Kate Barker, CEO of LGB Alliance, said: ‘Activists who try to replace the biological reality of sex with a fantasy world of magical genders are causing untold damage.

‘Whether it’s telling children there are a hundred or more genders, telling LGB people that being gay or lesbian is about sexual attraction to people of the same sex rather than gender, or eliminating women from healthcare messages because the word ‘woman’ is considered offensive. gender extremists, it’s sexist and regressive.

“Today’s rainbow warriors are showing allegiance to a faith that has nothing to do with the values ​​of what was once called ‘Gay Pride.’

Ovarian Cancer Action did not respond to the Daily Mail’s numerous requests for comment.

Why ovarian cancer is called a ‘silent killer’

About 80 percent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed in the advanced stages of the disease.

By the time they are diagnosed, 60 percent of ovarian cancer cases will have already spread to other parts of the body, reducing the five-year survival rate to 30 percent, compared to 90 percent in the earliest stages.

It is diagnosed so late because of its location in the pelvis, said Dr. Ronny Drapkin, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who has studied the disease for more than two decades.

‘The pelvis is like a bowl, so a tumor there can become quite large before it actually becomes noticeable,’ Drapkin told MailOnline.

The first symptoms that occur with ovarian cancer are gastrointestinal because tumors can push upwards.

When a patient complains of gastrointestinal discomfort, doctors are more likely to focus on dietary changes and other causes than suggest screening for ovarian cancer.

Drapkin said it is usually only after a patient has endured persistent gastrointestinal symptoms that he or she will undergo a screening that reveals the cancer.

“It is often said that ovarian cancer is a silent killer because it has no early symptoms, when in fact it does have symptoms, which are very common and can be caused by other things,” he said.

‘One of the things I tell women is that no one knows your body as well as you do. If you feel something is wrong, something is probably wrong.”