Women ignorant of cancer symptoms

Almost one in three women (29 per cent) mistakenly believe a smear test will pick up ovarian cancer, a poll found.

Only 4 per cent are confident they could spot symptoms of the disease themselves and many believe it is less common than cervical cancer. Some 6,800 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year and 4,500 die from it, four times as many as die from cervical cancer.

Symptoms include permanent bloating and tummy pain.