Doctors in the UK have warned of an increased risk of ovarian cancer among women, especially those who suffer from endometriosis. According to a new study, the two conditions are linked.

Endometriosis – a chronic disease that occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, leading to severe pain in the pelvis, heavy and painful periods, pain during sex, and infertility. Endometriosis can start at a person's first menstrual period and last until menopause. According to statistics, endometriosis plagues around one in 10 women between the ages of 15 and 44 years in the UK.

Popular actors and celebrities like Amy Schumer, Padma Lakshmi, Susan Sarandom, Emma Bunton, Cyndi Lauper, and many more have been open about their battle with the illness.

Recent research from the University of Utah in the United States found those with endometriosis were four times more likely to develop ovarian cancer than those who did not have the disease. However, for those women with some of the more severe forms of the disease - deep infiltrating endometriosis ovarian endometriomas or both - the risk inflated to a 9.7-fold.

Deep infiltrating is a rare, advanced, and severe form of the condition where uterine-like tissue grows deep into organs near the uterus like your bowel, bladder, ovaries, or ureters.

Ovarian cancer- the deadliest gynecological cancer begins in your ovaries - small organs in the female reproductive system where eggs form. According to statistics, a woman's lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer is 1 in 87. Doctors say ovarian cancer survival rates are much lower than other cancers that affect women. The relative five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer is 50.8 per cent percent. It is among the most difficult cancers to detect because symptoms often do not develop until later stages. Doctors treat ovarian cancer with surgery, chemotherapy, and other cancer treatments.

In the UK, NHS figures state that 7,400 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer yearly, and more than 4,000 die from it. This means that ovarian cancer kills a woman in the country every two hours. Previous research suggested those with endometriosis were just 1.4 times more likely to develop ovarian cancer, compared to the general population.

The latest study, published in the journal JAMA Network says the link was much higher and therefore women with the condition should be monitored more closely. Researchers analyzed health data on nearly 500,000 women in Utah aged 18-55 years for over two decades. Women with deep infiltrating endometriosis had the highest risk of ovarian cancer overall — around 18.8 times higher.

Ovarian cancer develops and spreads throughout your abdomen before it causes any symptoms, making its early detection extremely difficult. A few symptoms would include: