FACTS ABOUT OVARIAN CANCER
Ovarian cancer is one of the most difficult to diagnose and therefore one of the most deadly cancers today, with all women at risk for this disease:
Ovarian cancer is a serious and under-recognized threat to women's health
- Ovarian cancer occurs in 1 in 71 women. During 2008, nearly 22,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the United States.
- There is no widely accepted, effective early screening test for ovarian cancer.
- All women are at risk; 90% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer do not have a family history or other clear risk factors.
- Only 15% of women are familiar with the symptoms of ovarian cancer and 40% of women are not sure about the risk factors of ovarian cancer.
- 82% of women have never talked to their doctor about the symptoms and risk factors of ovarian cancer.
- 67% of women incorrectly believe that a yearly Pap test is effective in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
The mortality rate for ovarian cancer has not changed in over 40 years
- The mortality rate for ovarian cancer has not changed in decades, and new treatment options have lagged progress in other forms of cancer.
- An estimated 15,520 U.S. women will die from ovarian cancer in 2008. Over 100,000 women will die from this disease worldwide. Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States, killing more women than all the gynecologic cancers combined.
Ovarian cancer is very treatable when caught early but the vast majority of cases are not diagnosed until it is too late
- Symptoms of ovarian cancer are often not readily recognizable by many health care professionals.
- Only 19% of all ovarian cancers are detected at an early stage (before spreading from the ovaries) when the 5-year relative survival rate approaches 92%.
- Because of late-stage diagnosis, the 5-year survival rate of ovarian cancer is 30%.
- 80% of late stage diagnoses will face recurrence of the cancer following initial treatment, often within 2 years. Recurrent disease is considered incurable and usually results in death, even with aggressive chemotherapy treatments.
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- Common Myths about Ovarian Cancer
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SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT OVARIAN CANCER
The National Cancer Institute (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results – SEER) reports provides the most up to date statistics about the current incidence, prevalence and mortality rates for ovarian cancer.
American Cancer Association: Ovarian Facts