Rising Cancer Rates in Young Australians

More young Australians are being diagnosed

with cancers once thought to affect mostly older people.

Doctors say environmental factors may be to blame as one woman bravely shares her

story hoping to spark change.

This is what chemotherapy looks like,

one of the most powerful treatments to kill cancer, being given here to a

35 year old woman.

Jessica, are you scared right now?

Terrified. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, to battle this cancer.

A rare form of ovarian cancer,

but the process to get to this treatment was painful.

I approached a few doctors who told me that it was too young for cancer,

that it was something that was generally considered more in older people.

I got told that it could be a stomach ulcer.

It wasn't until being admitted to hospital a year later that doctors found a 13

kilogram tumour, the size of a watermelon.

They removed the tumour along with my right ovary and my right fallopian tube.

Now from that they obviously did testing which determined that

I have an exceptionally rare cancer.

She's sharing her story hoping other young Australians, particularly women,

will speak up.

Hear us, really hear what we're

saying and push for further testing because that could be the

difference between being diagnosed in stage 1 or stage 3 and 4.

Jessica's story is becoming more common.

Cancer rates are increasing in young Australians.

Ovarian cancer is up 30 breast cancer 50 and bowel cancer 71

Increases also in prostate, pancreatic and liver cancer.

We think that there's a big impact from environmental factors.

Be it what people are eating, people smoking, what people are drinking,

the amount of exercise they're doing. More research is needed.

For now Jessica knows what she has to do.

Ovarian cancer means to fight with the wrong woman. A fight she says she won't lose.

Jennifer Beshwati, 7 News.