Tessa James urges Aussie women to be more diligent with their health when it comes to cancer

CANCER survivor Tessa James has urged Australian women to be more diligent with their health.

CANCER survivor Tessa James has urged Australian women to be more diligent with their health.

The 25-year-old actor is one of several familiar faces to feature in the Ovarian Cancer Foundation’s #researchiskey campaign.

Tessa James is one of the faces of the Ovarian Camcer Foundation. Picture: Peter Brew-Bevan.

Tessa James and hubby Nate Myles. Picture: Don Arnold/Getty Images

“If cancer doesn’t happen to you it will happen to someone you know — we are all affected,” James tells the latest issue of Marie Claire magazine after suffering hodgkins lymphoma.

“For me, as a young person who has been through cancer, I think it’s so important to be aware of your body, to pay attention to how you feel and to be diligent with check-ups.

“There are so many uncontrollable elements with cancer, so you want to try and control the things you can as much as possible before it strikes.

“People assume ovarian cancer can be detected with a Pap smear, which is not the case. so really, the more informed and aware we are, the better chance women can have of beating it. I’ve been lucky enough to get through cancer and I’m so grateful for that.”

James defeated cancer in mid-2015. Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Longines Australia

James is one of many celebrities to have lent their support to the campaign, whereby money raised from sales of a limited edition Georg Jensen pendant or earings go to ovarian cancer research.

Others include Jessica Gomes, Samantha Armytage, Bonnie Sveen and Sam Frost.

Singer Delta Goodrem is also a survivor of hodgkins lymphoma.

Delta Goodrem survived hodgkins lymphoma said the key is research. Picture: Tom Huntley

Miranda Tapsell was shocked to hear ovarian cancer kills more than breast cancer. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

“It is a very personal battle, and something you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy,” Goodrem said.

“But every time we focus on a specific illness, like ovarian cancer, then we can educate people more about it so they can be aware of what to look for. The key is research, so we can be preventive rather than having to fight it after the fact.”

Actor Miranda Tapsell said: “I was shocked to hear that ovarian cancer kills more women than breast cancer. It’s important to pay attention to this disease and raise funds for more research. We need to make sure that the future holds a better outcome for women affected by ovarian cancer.”