Cornwall woman backs calls for better menopause support following cancer treatment
She is calling for better support for young women going through premature menopause after cancer treatment following her own diagnosis with stage 3 ovarian cancer.
Last updated 18th Sep 2026
A woman from north Cornwall is calling for better support for young women experiencing menopause after cancer treatment following her own diagnosis at the age of 34.
Alice was plunged into surgical menopause after being diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer - and underwent four months of chemotherapy. Two years later, she still suffers from symptoms such as hot flushes, heart palpitations, anxiety and depression - which has turned her life upside down and put a strain on her relationships.
Alice is backing the 'Call for Change' campaign, launched on Menopause and Cancer Awareness Day (Friday, September 18). The campaign, led by support group Menopause and Cancer highlights the lack of published national data on how many young women experience premature menopause due to cancer treatments and calls for better data collection and specialist long-term support.
"I'm two years on from my diagnosis and I'm still, still dealing with an array of fluctuating symptoms," she said.
"It's just a double whammy, going through a cancer diagnosis and then dealing with surgical menopause on top of that."
She said the impacts have not only impacted her physically, but also mentally.
"That drop of oestrogen really impacts me cognitively," she said.
"My mental health fluctuates so severely and I'm just always kind of trying to get to a good place again.
"And being younger, you know, I'm still trying to live my life - doing the things that I did before cancer and menopause, which is part what, just one layer of what's difficult about it because it's, it's like being a completely different person.
"It does feel like layers of grief, especially without that HRT help."
She added: "What's difficult about this is that you are just, it does feel like you're left to deal with it alone. As much as there is community out there, you know, it does feel isolating.
"I get to a point where I can have suicidal thoughts.
"It's really important that there is more help and more awareness put out there."
"It's like being a completely different person"
Alice spoke about the day-to-day impacts of her treatment.
"I've gone through all of that identity loss and then that surgical menopause combined with that - it's debilitating on some days," she said.
"It's not just hot, hot flashes, it's not just brain fog - it's lack of motivation. It's not feeling joy in the things that you once felt joy in.
"It's feeling like a complete alien in, in spaces that you were once comfortable in."
"Even around my friends, I feel completely different. They are amazing, but they can never understand it."
Alice is backing the 'Call for Change' campaign, launched on Menopause and Cancer Awareness Day (Friday, September 18).
The National Disease Registration Service recorded that in 2023, 2,516 females under 30 were diagnosed with cancer in England. Surviving cancer can lead to unforeseen lifelong consequences such as premature ovarian insufficiency or menopause induced by treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
Alice’s story shows the mental and physical challenges premature menopause poses. She explains how the lack of hormone replacement therapy options complicates managing her symptoms. Alice's experiences coincide with the campaign’s plea for recognition of treatment-induced menopause as a significant late effect of cancer treatment among young women.
Alice notes that while her cancer team was supportive, there remains a significant gap in post-cancer menopause support.