Britain is worst in the world for ovarian cancer early diagnosis

COMIC David Walliams poses with Russell Crowe and Samantha Barks at the Pretty Woman musical.

Barks, 28, who starred with Crowe, 54, in 2012’s Les Miserables, is the lead in the adaptation of the 1990 hit on Broadway, New York. David, 47, famed for his “laydee” gag, joked: “The story resonated with me and Russell, as it is exactly how we met.” ONLY 30% of cases of ovarian cancer in British women are diagnosed within a month of seeing a doctor, figures reveal.

It means the UK lags behind the rest of the world for early diagnosis – languishing at the bottom of a study of 44 countries by the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition.

Italy came top on 62.3%, while the average across all 44 nations was 43.2%.

Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women here, with 7,300 diagnosed

URGENT Sue Rizzello every year – predicted to leap to 10,500 by 2035.

But the study found 66% of UK women were only diagnosed once the cancer had already spread.

Sue Rizzello, 53, from Berkshire, diagnosed in 2012, said: “We need to act now so that more women know the symptoms, and so the system is set up to give more of us a fighting chance at an early diagnosis.”

Symptoms are fairly general and include feeling full quickly, loss of appetite and tummy pain.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “We are radically transforming how we screen, diagnose and treat cancer.”