The Femtech World Awards are set to recognise the people, organisations and innovations revolutionising how we treat and diagnose cancer in women.

Now in its third year, the Femtech World Awards celebrates the very best of female-led and focused health innovation, spanning menopause, fertility, cardiovascular disease and beyond.

The Women’s Cancer Innovation award will honour a groundbreaking innovation dedicated to the prevention, early detection treatment or ongoing care of cancers that uniquely or disproportionately affect women.

The winner will have demonstrated exceptional progress in advancing research, technology or patient-centred solutions that improve outcomes and quality of life.

This award celebrates those driving transformative change in the fight against women’s cancers.

The Women’s Cancer Innovation Award is sponsored by Endomag.

Endomag believes everyone deserves a better standard of cancer care – that’s why they design their cancer localisation technologies with both the clinician and patient in mind.

Many leading hospitals across the world use their unique solutions to help breast cancer patients avoid surgery when it isn’t needed, and experience better outcomes when it is.

Their Magseed marker is a tiny, non-radioactive seed, ideal for accurately marking tumours and lymph nodes, while the Magtrace lymphatic tracer is the world’s first, long-lasting, non-radioactive dual tracer for lymphatic mapping.

Paired with the Sentimag localisation platform, they have now been widely proven across over 200 clinical studies, featuring more than 20,000 patients.

This award is one of 10 featuring at the event, which last year attracted entries from across the UK, Europe and North America.

Award winners will receive a trophy and the opportunity to be interviewed by Femtech World.

Both winners and shortlisted entries will receive extensive coverage across all Femtech World platforms.

Find out more and enter for free here.

Pregnant women exposed to ‘forever chemicals’ could be at greater risk of developing gestational diabetes, a recent study suggests.

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are toxic chemicals that do not break down in the body, leaching from non-stick cookware, waterproof textiles and takeaway containers into food or via skin contact and building up in vital organs.

Researchers analysed 79 animal and human studies evaluating the relationship between PFAS, diabetes and pregnancy.

They found that higher exposure led to consistently higher insulin resistance, where the body’s cells do not respond properly to insulin, and higher rates of gestational diabetes.

The research was conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

Dr Sandra India-Aldana, co-first study author, said: “This is the most comprehensive synthesis of evidence to date examining how PFAS exposure relates not only to diabetes risk, but also to the underlying clinical markers that precede disease.

“Our findings suggest that pregnancy may be a particularly sensitive window during which PFAS exposure may increase risk for gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes has been rising for the past decade.

In babies, it may lead to high birth weight, preterm labour and increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life.

Mothers may also face higher risk of high blood pressure and developing diabetes in future.

Dr Xin Yu, co-first study author, said: “Gestational diabetes has lasting implications for both mother and child.

“This research supports the growing recognition that environmental exposures like PFAS should be part of conversations around preventive care and risk reduction during pregnancy.”

Dr Damaskini Valvi, senior study author, said: “These results are alarming as almost everyone is exposed to PFAS, and gestational diabetes can have severe long-term complications for mothers and their children.

“We need larger longitudinal studies with well-characterised type 1 and type 2 diabetes cases to fully characterise PFAS impacts on diabetes risk and its long-term complications for affected individuals and their families.

“These results underscore the importance of considering PFAS and other hazardous environmental chemical exposures as part of comprehensive clinical risk assessment and preventive care, particularly during pregnancy.”