July 30, 2026, by S.G. Kazolias
The Christiane David Association was launched in 2024 to build awareness among women to the dangers of ovarian cancer and to encourage authorities to do more to finance research. Ovarian cancer is a silent killer which usually manifests itself only at an advanced stage, increasing the risk of death. 1
A Killer with Little Warning
In 2010, Christiane David began bleeding from the vagina. There was no pain. She immediately saw the gynaecologist who suspected ovarian cancer. A diagnosis which proved fatally true. Christiane died two years later, at the age of 72.
“The surgeon told us he had cut out everything he could,” says Christiane’s daughter, Anne-Gaëlle. “But at stage 3, the prognosis was not good.”
Ovarian cancer is a silent killer. The signs that something is dreadfully wrong come all too often when the cancer has reached an advanced stage. Only 20% of the ovarian cancers are found at an early stage.
Ovarian cancer is the 8th most common cancer in women globally, with about 324,000 new cases and 207,000 deaths annually according to the statistics compiled by the Ovarian Cancer Research Center. The number is too low for laboratories to invest profitably in intensive research without government help.
In 2023, according to numbers presented by the Léon Bérard Center for the Fight Against Cancer,2 in Lyon, 5,350 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer in France. The disease kills some 3,500 women in France every year. That is more than the number of traffic deaths in the country (2024; 3,190) but far fewer than the over 60,000 new breast cancers France diagnosed every year.
In the UK, ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women with 7,500 new diagnoses every year while in Germany, the disease will affect one in every 74 women (Zentrum Für Krebsregisterdaten). The number for France is one in 70 and it sits ninth on the list of cancers French women suffer from. The median age of French women found with ovarian cancer is 70. 3
If found at a late stage, as is so often the case, the five-year survival rate could be at Stage III (Spread to abdomen/lymph nodes) as low as 40%, and at Stage IV (Distant metastasis), down to 20%.
Anne-Gaëlle David feels more can be done to fight ovarian cancer but it is not high enough on the list of research priorities “because not enough women are dying from it to interest the laboratories.” She founded the Christiane David Association to create awareness among women to the dangers of ovarian cancer and to help fight for more research in prevention and treatment.
Not enough women are dying from ovarian cancer to interest the laboratories.
Anne-Gaëlle David, L’Association Christiane David
Professor Isabelle Ray-Coquard, France’s leading ovarian oncologist at the Léon Bérard Center in Lyon, says “there are a multitude of different cancers which are detected at an advanced stage because it is difficult to see the symptoms when they are located only in the ovaries.”
Another reason, ovarian cancer may be detected late is that, “of the 500 oncologists in France, few are specialised in ovarian cancer.” Professor Ray-Coquard admits that many oncologists “may not be up to the task.” She says that while she “can see 80 cases of ovarian cancer in a week, other oncologists may come across two a year.”
The Christiane David Association encourages women to be examined by a gynecologist at least once every two years, even when they are young. Women are warned to watch out for these symptoms:
- Bloating: A swollen or large tummy that stays and does not go away.
- Pain: Ache or tenderness in the tummy or pelvic area.
- Eating changes: Feeling full very fast when you eat, or having no appetite.
- Bathroom changes: Needing to pee much more often or with high urgency, plus new constipation or diarrhoea.
- Fatigue: Feeling very tired all the time.
- Weight: Losing weight without trying.
- Back Pain: Ongoing pain in your lower back.`Bleeding: Unusual vaginal bleeding, such as after menopause.
The association recommends women get regular ultrasounds. But Professor Ray-Coquard warns that ovarian cancer is so aggressive, that “it could metastasise between two ultrasounds six months apart“.
The Professor says the first thing to do is look at risk factors. If a woman’s family has a history of ovarian cancer, then she recommends preventive surgery after the woman has had her children. She says for late diagnosed cases, depending on the form of the cancer, they can cure up to 50%.
The American Cancer Society points out the following ovarian cancer risk factors:
- Older age
- Inherited gene mutations, such as BRCA1, BRCA2, or Lynch syndrome
- Starting menstrual cycle before 12 years old
- Starting menopause after 52 years old
- No personal history of giving birth
- Endometriosis (abnormal growth of tissue that lines the inside of the uterus)
- Radiation exposure to the pelvis
Doctor Ray-Coquard says much is being done to develop new tests for early detection. She is also confident in vaccines and treatments currently in study and approaching their final tests which she hopes will soon put them on the market.
Anne-Gaëlle David is optimistic as well. She believes ENHERTU, a drug which has shown promise with certain forms of ovarian cancers, is a precursor of better things to come. According to the European Medicines Agency, ENHERTU, which acts on HER-2 positive cancers, (a gene which drives faster cell growth), has shown good results for some ovarian, lung, breast and gastric cancers. But very few ovarian cancers are of this type. Yet, it is a hopeful sign.
You can reach the Christiane David Association at https://www.christianedavid.fr/
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- I don’t usually write about medical topics as it is not my specialty. I was asked to do a paper to promote the work of the Christiane David Association. I encourage you to contacts them at their web site for further information or to find out how you can help. ↩︎
- You can reach the Centre Léon Bérard at 28 Rue Laennec – 69008 Lyon, telephone number:
04 78 78 28 28. ↩︎ - Of course, the kind of health care system a country has will determine how soon women seek screening when they suspect something is wrong. In the US, which has no universal, single payer, system, less well-off women may wait to be screened and the cancer discovered much later than in European countries with a functioning, universal, health care system, such as France and Germany. ↩︎
KazoDaily 