How Common Is Ovarian Cancer?
Among women worldwide, ovarian cancer is the eighth most common malignancy and cause of cancer death. In 2022, ovarian cancer was diagnosed in about 325 000 individuals and caused 206 839 deaths worldwide. In 2025, it is estimated that 20 890 US women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 12 730 will die of it.1

What Are the Risk Factors for Ovarian Cancer?
Risk factors for ovarian cancer include older age (the most common age at diagnosis is 63 years), a family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer, endometriosis (a chronic inflammatory disease in which uterine lining cells are found outside of the uterus), and never having given birth. About 25% of ovarian cancers are due to inherited genetic variants, primarily in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

What Are the Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer?
At the time of diagnosis, most patients with ovarian cancer have symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, urgent or frequent urination, and/or increased abdominal size. Signs and symptoms of advanced ovarian cancer may include a mass in the abdominal area, weight loss, and trouble breathing due to abdominal swelling or from fluid surrounding the lungs.

How Is Ovarian Cancer Diagnosed and Staged?
Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed and staged based on findings from a pelvic ultrasound, abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan, and/or abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Total-body positron emission tomography (PET) can detect cancer that has spread to more distant sites in the body. To help with staging, some patients may undergo diagnostic laparoscopy, a minimally invasive surgical procedure, in which clinicians look for a tumor within the abdomen and perform biopsies to assess for ovarian cancer.

Stage I ovarian cancer is limited to the ovary or fallopian tube. Stage II cancer has spread beyond the ovaries and fallopian tubes but is still confined within the pelvis. Stage III cancer involves sites outside the pelvis such as nearby lymph nodes or other areas of the abdomen. Stage IV cancer involves organs or tissues outside the abdominal cavity, such as the liver, spleen, or lungs.

How Is Ovarian Cancer Treated?
All patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer should undergo genetic testing, including for BRCA1/2 variants, to help guide treatment and counseling. First-line treatment for patients with early-stage (I and II) ovarian cancer is surgery, including removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes, the uterus, lymph nodes, and fatty tissue covering the abdominal organs, followed by chemotherapy. Patients with stage I cancer who are considering having children may undergo more limited surgery with removal of the cancerous ovary and fallopian tube, leaving in place the other ovary and fallopian tube and the uterus.

Treatment for patients with stages III and IV (advanced) ovarian cancer includes both surgery and chemotherapy, often combined with individualized targeted therapies such as bevacizumab and/or poly–ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors.

Prognosis After Treatment for Ovarian Cancer
Patients with stages I and II ovarian cancer have a 5-year overall survival rate of 70% to 95%. The 5-year overall rate for stages III and IV ovarian cancer is 10% to 40%. However, 5-year survival is about 70% among patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer who have BRCA genetic variants and are treated with PARP inhibitors.

Author/s:

Rebecca Voelker