‘Ovarian cancer isn’t a silent cancer — it is a cancer that whispers’. This comment encapsulates both the challenges and the opportunities for making accurate diagnoses of conditions which are infrequently seen in general practice, or often present with non-specific, unremarkable symptoms, or both. Vague abdominal pelvic or systemic symptoms are difficult to evaluate, but if they persist or recur, they may be early warnings of something more serious — they whisper.
Diagnosis is the theme of this issue of the BJGP. The study by Charles Helsper and colleagues from the Netherlands addresses the problem of identifying women with a history of ovarian cancer in order to carry out genetic testing on them and their relatives to determine their future cancer risk related, for …