One of our most important current projects is PROMISE 2016 - a £3.2 million project jointly funded by The Eve Appeal and Cancer Research UK that involves scientists at five pre-eminent academic centres: University College London, the University of Manchester, the University of Cambridge, Harvard and the University of Southern California. 

Prognosis for a woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer today is poor. 6,500 women will be diagnosed this year in the UK and 4,400 will die. The PROMISE 2016 project seeks to improve outcomes by:

• Identifying at-risk populations and developing a model for predicting a woman's risk of developing ovarian cancer
• Developing a model for earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer

Currently there is no screening programme available to the National Health Service (NHS UK). This makes diagnosis difficult, especially given the confusing and ambiguous symptoms of the disease. The majority of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed at stage 3 or 4. This is often too late for successful treatment - hence the dismal survival rate. However, if we can identify those most at risk, and then monitor them with improved diagnostic methods, more cancers will be caught earlier and we will save lives. Women who are diagnosed at stage 1 or 2 have over a 90% chance of survival.

There is real hope that the PROMISE 2016 project may enable a recommendation to the NHS for a future ovarian screening programme that is not only effective in saving lives but also economically beneficial.

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