The first week of September is Women's Health Week and this year the focus is on ovarian cancer.

Every day, four women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and three women die from the disease. It has the lowest survival rate of any women's cancer.

Ms Hutchison said research is working towards developing a blood test for ovarian cancer, but at the moment, there's no way to test if someone has the disease.

"It's really important that women be vigilant and listen to their bodies. If something's wrong with your body get it checked out," she said.

Ms Hutchison said her mother ignored the aches and pains she had been feeling to take care of everyone else.

"My journey started because my mum had ovarian cancer. She had stage four. She was always the type of person to put others before herself," she said.

Women's Health Week is focusing on ovarian cancer, but women's health nurse Sara Norman said the week involves all aspects of female health from mental to physical to sexual.

Ms Norman said it's important for Dubbo women to know they can book in to have a pap smear alongside their mammogram at Dubbo BreastScreen.

However, Ms Norman said it's really important women realise a pap smear is not going to detect ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is labelled the "silent killer" because by the time it is detected it has usually already progressed to stage four.

The four most frequently reported symptoms of ovarian cancer are abdominal or pelvic pain, persistent abdominal bloating, frequent urination and feeling full after eating a small amount.

It is most common in women over 50 years-old who have been through menopause, however the disease can affect women of all ages.

Other risk factors include a family history of the disease, not having children or never having used contraceptives, endometriosis and lifestyle factors such as smoking, being overweight or having a high fat diet.