Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSRare case of ovarian cancer in child
An eight-year-old girl from Yorkshire undergoing gruelling treatments for ovarian cancer is thought to be one of the youngest girls in the country to have fought the disease.
Sophie Fry, from Driffield, East Yorkshire, was taken to Scarborough Hospital earlier this year with abdominal pains.
An ultrasound later revealed the youngster to have a tumour. Supported by her mother Heidi, 33, and Gavin, 32, she underwent a major operation at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, where she is now undergoing further treatment.
Relatives and supporters have launched a fundraising campaign in aid of the hospital unit caring for her and to help pay for a holiday.
Professor Hani Gabra, director of the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre, said: ‘Cancers found in the ovaries of young children, called ovarian germ cell tumours, are a quite distinct disease from adult ovarian cancer, which most commonly affects women aged 50 and over.
‘Germ cell tumours in children are thankfully rare and treatment is usually effective, with more than four out of five children who develop the disease surviving.
‘Nonetheless, this will naturally be an extremely worrying time for the child affected and their family, and our thoughts are with them.’
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