The Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF)
The Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF) has become a partner of the Ritchies benefit program. By selecting OCRF as your favourite charity, you can contribute to fundraising efforts for vital ovarian cancer research.
About the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation
- Established in 2000, the OCRF is Australia’s leading independent funder of ovarian cancer research, dedicated to transforming outcomes for the most lethal gynaecological cancer.
- Their vision is a future where those impacted by ovarian cancer can live healthy, vital lives. The OCRF is accelerating scientific progress that will change the future for women and girls.
- They raise awareness, advocate for greater investment and equity, collaborate nationally and internationally, and strategically fund high-impact ovarian cancer research.
Research priorities and projects
• Early detection
• New and more effective treatments
• Management of recurrence
• Prevention
Common ovarian cancer symptoms
• Unexplained weight loss
• Vague abdominal pain or pressure
• Feeling of abdominal fullness, gas, nausea, indigestion or reflux - different to your normal sensations
• Sudden abdominal swelling, weight gain or bloating
If you experience a sudden or persistent onset of these symptoms that concerns you, it is important to consult your doctor.
About ovarian cancer
• The five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer in Australia is only 49%. Due to the subtle symptoms and lack of screening test, about 70 percent of diagnoses are made in the later stages of the disease, when the chance of surviving five years is just 29 percent.
• There are over 30 different subtypes of ovarian cancer, all with slightly different characteristics, making it a complex disease to treat.
• There is no early detection test for ovarian cancer – _invasive surgery is the only way to make a definitive diagnosis.
• A pap smear or cervical screening does not detect ovarian cancer. CA125 blood tests and ultrasound are not reliable detection tests.
• The treatment that patients will receive today, will be similar to what women were receiving 30 years ago.
• Ovarian cancer currently receives less than 0.7 percent of government medical research funding in Australia.
• The World Ovarian Cancer Coalition estimates that, if nothing changes, there will be an 81% increase in deaths caused by ovarian cancer in our region by 2050.
