Two thirds of patients with ovarian cancer die from the disease. During National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, in September, health advocates are pushing for better detection of the disease, while itstill treatable. br When I was 42, I was running triathlons and in the best shape of my life, said Sommermann, 45, of Freeport, NY But one day, I felt a lump in his stomach and realized Ibeen experiencing some swelling, weight gain and fatigue. To my surprise and my surprise my doctor diagnosed me with ovarian cancer in advanced stage, requiring an oophorectomy to remove the ovaries, a hysterectomy to remove the uterus and six months of grueling chemotherapy. br During National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, in September, health advocates are celebrating the fact that women like Sommermann are more likely to overcome ovarian cancer than they were when the television comedian Gilda Radner, star of Saturday Night Live, died of the disease in 1989. The median duration of survival after diagnosis is now five years, nearly double what it was 20 years ago. br Today we have a better idea of what the red flags of ovarian cancer are, said Dr. Judith Wolf, a professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. A doctor who saw today recognizes that Radner had a family history of cancer that put at great risk. But 20 years after Radnerdeath still havenincreased the number of women diagnosed early, and we must focus our efforts on more effective detection. br ovarian cancer by only 3 percent of all cancers in women, the reports of the Gilda Radner Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry in Buffalo, NY But while the disease is rare, it is deadly, killing 15,000 of the 22,000 women who strikes each year. br Threequarters of the cases are not detected until advanced stages when the cancer has spread and the chance of survival is a dismal 15 percent. br But if ovarian cancer is diagnosed early, when treatments are not as intensive or longterm, with a survival rate of 92 percent. Since br, health advocates this month are spreading the word about the need to recognize cancercauses ovarian and respond to their symptoms as soon as possible. br raise funds to support this objective are the Gilda Radner Ovarian cancer family registry, the Atlantabased American Cancer Society, headquartered in Chicago Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, the Foundation Cohen, Lynne, based in Santa Monica, California, Seattlebased Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research and the Dallasbased National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. br The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, the largest private funding organization of ovarian cancer in the United States, based in New York, is launching a Hope Line counseling and referral services in collaboration with the Parisbased cosmetics company Leal. The fund is also holding governorsansions super lunches in the United States to raise money for and awareness ovarian cancer. br The home products company Seventh Generation, based in Burlington, Vermont, is the support the Trust through the execution of one month's time LetTalk Period campaign to raise $ 22,000 one dollar for every woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year. br also try to get support is ovarian cancer survivor Sommermann, who has recovered from his illness and return to your regular triathlon training. br To support research, Irunning 50 triathlons in 50 states by my 50th birthday, which falls in five years, said Sommermann, who finished eight states and raised $ 25,000 from its goal of $ 100,000 so far. Ovarian cancer can come out of nowhere and its symptoms are easy to clean. But eventually develop further evidence of selection, no woman to die needlessly from this devastating disease again. br Cancersymptoms include ovarian swelling, stomach pain and changes in bowel habits and bladder. It can be confused with symptoms of other diseases, such as indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic stress. Although these symptoms arenalways br clear, still the most common form is detected ovarian cancer, said Dr. Molly Brewer, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut Since ovarian cancer occurs in many different types, donalways growing in the same pattern or in tandem, scientists still donhave a clear understanding of how this cancer and are having a difficult time creating an effective screening test. br Although 90 percent of ovarian cancer diagnoses are not linked to genetics, having a family history of cancer how not Radner puts you at risk of developing this disease. br If a woman in her immediate family has ovarian cancer, the risk peaks from 10 to 15 percent, reports the American Cancer Society. br Having an inherited mutation in a breast cancer gene (BRCA1) or breast cancer gene two (BRCA2) increases the risk of 10 to 70 percent. br Scientists are studying why cells become cancerous ovarian and how to stop this process. They are also studying the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the hope of developing treatments directed specifically at women with these genetic mutations. br highrisk women often opt to have their ovaries as a preventive measure, reducing the chances of developing ovarian cancer by 95 percent in its case, if performed an oophorectomy before menopause, said Brewer. br Other risk factors include the start of their menstrual cycle before age 12, experienced menopause before age 50, have problems conceiving children, obesity, taking estrogen therapy for more than five years to treat symptoms menopause, and be over 61 years, the average age at ovarian cancer strikes first br The search for a universal screening for ovarian cancer the Pap smear and other routine medical tests can not detect was an uphill battle. br Last year, a blood test called OvaSure was withdrawn after the Food and Drug Administration criticized the Laboratory Corporation of America, its Burlington, NC, the manufacturer, not to obtain agency approval before marketing the test . The Chicagobased Society of Gynecologic Oncologists questioned the accuracy of the test. br Another blood test, Correlogic Systems, based in Bethesda, Maryland, has been stalled in development for over a decade and has not yet won approval from the Food and Drug Administration. br In the absence of other alternatives, doctors still detection measures used since the 1990s: the detection of symptoms, then administering a pelvic exam and transvaginal ultrasound with a CA125 blood test, which measures a protein associated with ovarian tumors. br Because CA125 also peaks in the blood in response to other health problems such as endometriosis and uterine fibroids this detection method is not safe from fire. It also only detected in early stages of ovarian cancer in 25 percent of cases. br As was the case 20 years ago, the best way to protect against ovarian cancer is to recognize the symptoms yourself and advocate for the detection and treatment, Wolf said. br br