Cancer Research UK Annual Review 2011/12

22 | Cancer survivors give hope to others
Helping more women survive ovarian cancer
Charity fundraiser and passionate
Formula One fan Della Lamden,
from Sussex, believes life is for living.
She was diagnosed with ovarian
cancer in 2005. Although her cancer
hasn’t been cured, she’s doing well.
‘Having cancer changed my life,’
she says. ‘I’ve got through because
of my daughter, Bobbie, and some
incredible friends. It’s made me
a stronger person.’
Some women, like Della, have
a greater risk of developing the
disease because of faulty genes that
are passed on through their families.
In the 1990s, our scientists highlighted
the role of a gene, called BRCA1,
in ovarian cancer. Della has been
told that she has a fault in this gene.
But not all women with a family
history of the disease have a faulty
BRCA1. Now our researchers
have solved another part of the
puzzle. They found that women with
mistakes in a different gene, called
RAD51D, are also much more likely
to develop the disease.
Although only a small number of
women carry faults in this gene, it is
an extremely important discovery.
Della Lamden, 49, from Sussex
The number of women surviving ovarian cancer has doubled over the last 40 years.