Download wkr0004

Press release
Release date
October 2011
Facts and figures about ovarian cancer
 Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women, after breast, lung bowel,
and womb cancers.
 It is the fourth most common cause of cancer death in UK women. Each year in the
UK 6,500 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and 4,400 women die from the
disease. The disease causes more deaths than all the other gynaecological cancers1
put together.
 While treatment for ovarian cancer has advanced over the last 20 years, long term
survival rates have changed very little2. Over the same period, survival rates for
breast and cervical cancers have greatly improved3.
 Early diagnosis can help save lives – survival rates for ovarian cancer are higher the
earlier the cancer is diagnosed. Women with early stage ovarian cancer have fiveyear survival rates in excess of 70%1 whereas women diagnosed with ovarian cancer
at a later stage have much lower survival rates of between 5% and 33%4.
 The UK has one of the worst survival rates for ovarian cancer in Europe.
 Once known as ‘the silent killer’ because symptoms are vague and can easily be
confused with more common and less serious health problems, there is now
agreement on the signs and symptoms that could suggest an ovarian cancer
diagnosis and Key Messages for Women on the signs and symptoms of the disease
have been published by the Department of Health5.
 Most cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed in women who have gone through
menopause. This means that most cases are in women over the age of 50 but
younger women do also get the disease.
 There is currently no NHS screening programme for ovarian cancer (cervical
screening tests do not detect ovarian cancer) but a large-scale screening trial to
prove that lives can be saved through ovarian cancer screening is underway and
initial results are encouraging. 6
 The UK has poor survival rates, and is positioned seventh in the list of European
Countries for high ovarian cancer incidence and mortality rates.
- ends –
Further information:
Liz Engel, The Eve Appeal
[email protected]
Direct line: 0208 663 1040 / 07812 150832
S/B: 020 7299 4430
1
Cancer of the endometrium (womb); of the cervix; of the vagina; of the vulva
Cancer Research UK http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/ovary/survival/index.htm Accessed
November 2009
3
Survival rates for breast cancer have been improving for more than 20 years. The estimated relative five-year
survival rate for women diagnosed in England and Wales in 2001-2003 was 80%, compared with only 52% for
women diagnosed in 1971-1975. Cancer Research UK
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/breast/survival/index.htm#trends Accessed November
2009
4
http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/type/ovarian-cancer/treatment/statistics-and-outlook-for-ovariancancer#stage Accessed November 2009
5
http://www.eveappeal.org.uk/media/14964/ovarian%20cancer%20kms%20women.pdf /
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/cancer/Pages/Ovariancancer.aspx
6
UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS)
http://www.eveappeal.org.uk/media-centre/latest-news/research-offers-new-hope-for-early-detectionofovarian-cancer.aspx
2