Fact Sheet

Ovarian Cancer is a serious and under-recognized threat to women's health:

• Ovarian cancer, the deadliest of the gynecologic cancers, is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. Women.
• Ovarian cancer occurs in 1 out of 57 women.
• An estimated 14,000 American women will die from ovarian cancer each year.
• Currently, about 50 percent of the women diagnosed with ovarian cancer die from it within five years. Among African American women only about 46 percent survive five years or more.
• Three out of four cases are detected in late stage when five-year survival is about 25 percent.

Ovarian Cancer is very treatable when it is detected early, but the vast majority of cases are not diagnosed until the cancer has spread beyond the ovaries.

• In cases where ovarian cancer is detected before it has spread beyond the ovaries, more than 90 percent of women survive longer than five years.
• Only 25 percent of the ovarian cancer cases diagnosed in the United States are detected in the early stages.
• When diagnosed in advanced stages, the chance of five-year survival is only about 25 percent.
• Ovarian cancer is difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are easily confused with other diseases, and because there is no reliable, easy-to-administer screening tool.

Raising public awareness of ovarian cancer by educating doctors and women about the disease saves lives.

• Ovarian cancer often presents with symptoms that include abdominal pressure or bloating, constant and progressive changes in bowel or bladder problems, persistent digestive problems, excessive fatigue, abnormal bleeding, and pain during intercourse.
• Early recognition of symptoms is the best way to save women's lives.  Without increased education about ovarian cancer, many women and their doctors will continue to ignore or misinterpret the symptoms of the disease.
• Recognition of women who are at higher risk for developing ovarian cancer is also important.  Risk factors also include: increasing age, personal or family history of ovarian, breast, or colon cancer, and not bearing a child.