0.2% of cases involve children

OVARIAN cancer is the sixth most common cancer among British women, with more than 7,400 new cases each year and 4,100 women dying as a result.

It mainly affects those who have been through the menopause, with 82 per cent of cases among women over the age of 50.

Cases among children are rare and just 16 girls are diagnosed before the age of 15 in Britain each year – less than 0.2 per cent of all cases. Only 35 per cent of women with ovarian cancer survive ten years after diagnosis.

Survival rates are poor because three-quarters of women are diagnosed once the cancer has already spread.

This is partly because the hallmark symptoms – bloating, a swollen tummy and needing to urinate a lot – are often mistaken for other conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome.