Monitoring of over-the-counter medicine sales could diagnose ovarian cancer early

Principal investigator for the Cancer Loyalty Card Study, Dr James Flanagan, said: “Using shopping data, our study found a noticeable increase in purchases of pain and indigestion medications among women with ovarian cancer up to eight months before diagnosis, compared with women without ovarian cancer. "File photo 

Data gathered from loyalty cards on over-the-counter medicines could help spot ovarian cancer up to eight months before diagnosis, new research has suggested.

A study led by Imperial College London found pain and indigestion medication purchases were higher among women who were later diagnosed with ovarian cancer.