ACTING fast on symptoms of bloating, stomach pain and feeling full quickly can lead to an early diagnosis of ovarian cancer, a study shows.

Ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed at a later stage, when survival is at its lowest, and is often thought to show symptoms once advanced.

But researchers say that the signs could be occur up to three years before a diagnosis, even if they are subtle.

Their study showed that 'symptom triggered testing' can pick up early stage aggressive ovarian cancer in a quarter of those affected.

And complete surgical removal of the cancerous tissue was possible in 60 per cent of those diagnosed in this way.

Researchers said they hope the findings will raise awareness for more GPs to test for ovarian cancer and encourage women with symptoms to get them checked out.

Shocking statistics have previously revealed that four in five women have no idea that bloating is a sign of ovarian cancer and fail to book a doctor's appointment about it.

There is no national screening programme for ovarian cancer in the UK, although a process known as 'symptom triggered testing' was introduced in 2011.

Under these guidelines, women who have symptoms such as bloating, bowel changes, appetite changes, or abdominal pain should be prioritised for a blood test and ultrasound.

If the results are abnormal, they should be referred to hospital within two weeks.

However, Professor Sudha Sundar of the Pan Birmingham Gynaecological Cancer Centre in Birmingham, told the PA news agency that the method's usefulness has "never really been clear-cut".

She said: "Although this has existed since 2011, it's never really been clear-cut if this is useful for patients.

"The medical community has always been a bit unsure about the utility of this, because the thinking is that women showing symptoms may probably have advanced cancer.

"What our study has shown is that, yes, you can pick it up, but you can also pick it up early."

Ovarian cancer is diagnosed in 7,495 women evey year, and there are 4,142 deaths.

But while most (93 per cent) women diagnosed with early stage disease survive for more than five years, only 13 per cent of those diagnosed with advanced disease do so.

For the study, researchers analysed data from the Refining Ovarian Cancer Test accuracy Scores (ROCkeTS), a study recruiting from 24 hospitals in the UK.

Of the 1,741 patients on the fast-track pathway, 119 (seven per cent) were diagnosed with high grade serous ovarian cancer, the most common type - and the most lethal.

A quarter (25.2 per cent) of the group had stages one or two of the disease.

Visible cancerous tissue was completely removed in 73 (61 per cent) and almost completely removed in 18 (15 per cent).

Almost two-thirds of the women - 78 out of 119 - had surgery to remove as many cancer cells from the abdomen as possible, while 36 patients were given chemotherapy before surgery.

Five out of the 119 women did not undergo surgery at all.

Prof Sundar said: "We know this particular cancer, which is the most common form of ovarian cancer, tends to spread across the tummy.

"A quarter of women were stage one, which is fantastic, but even when it had spread, what we've been able to show is that the spread was moderate in the majority of women.

"The implication of that, is that they can have relatively straightforward surgery to remove the cancer.

"Potentially we are not just able to identify women with cancer, but pick up ovarian cancer at a stage where it makes a very big difference for the individual."

Prof Sundar added that she hopes the findings, published in the International Journal of Gynaecological Cancer, will raise awareness to both GPs and patients about ovarian cancer.

"We're hoping these papers will make GPs more aware to test for ovarian cancer when they see women with these symptoms, particularly older women," Prof Sundar added.

"We also hope women who have these symptoms will know something is not right and will speak to their GP."