Ovarian Cancer Survival Rate

What is Ovarian Cancer?

Ovarian cancer is a type of cancer that (as the name tells) begins in the ovaries or fallopian tubes. Like all other types of cancers, it is characterized by the growth of abnormal cells that continue to multiply, eventually forming a tumor in the affected ovary and, if not controlled, spreading to other areas of the body.

Ovarian cancer mostly develops later in life, after menopause, and makes up only 1% of new cancer cases in the US. However, it is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths among women and the most deadly cancer affecting the female reproductive system.

Let’s delve a little deeper into the topic to learn more about ovarian cancer, its different types, symptoms, treatment options, and survival rate.

Types of Ovarian Cancer

The ovaries contain three types of cells, each of which can develop cancer, dividing ovarian cancer into three main types. These include:

It’s important to note that not all ovarian tumors are malignant, but we are only talking about the ones that are cancerous

Epithelial Ovarian Cancer –Most common of all ovarian cancers, this starts in the cells that make up the outermost layer of the ovaries; the epithelial cells. Hence, it’s called carcinoma. 85% to 90% of ovarian cancers are ovarian carcinomas or epithelial cancer.
Germ Cell Ovarian Tumors – Germ cells are reproductive cells that make eggs and sperm. Tumors of these cells are rarely malignant, making up about 2% of ovarian cancer cases. However, unlike other types of ovarian cancers common among older women, germ cell cancer usually affects women in their early 30s or younger.
Stromal Tumors – Originating in the connective tissue cells that make the estrogen and progesterone hormones, stromal cell cancers make up only about 1% of ovarian cancer cases.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer?

Ovarian cancer doesn’t always produce any symptoms during the initial stages. Even when it does, they are often generic and hence, often attributed to other conditions.

Ovarian cancer symptoms may include:

Abdominal swelling
Bloating
Pelvic discomfort
Frequent urination
Bowel changes
Unexplained fatigue
Loss of appetite
Feeling full quickly
Weight loss
Back pain

As mentioned earlier, these are vague symptoms and are associated with several other significantly less chronic conditions. If you have any of these symptoms, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have ovarian cancer. But it’s best to consult a doctor to rule out any possibilities.

Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis and Staging

Unfortunately, there isn’t any screening test that can detect ovarian cancer in its early stages, as there is for some other types of cancers, like a mammogram for breast cancer.

How is Ovarian Cancer Diagnosed?

Diagnosing ovarian cancer requires doctors to perform a series of tests and a thorough pelvic exam. The two tests primarily used to screen for ovarian cancer include the CA-125 blood test and transvaginal ultrasound.

However, their results aren’t a confirmed indication of ovarian cancer. If these tests are positive, your doctor will order more tests to rule out other conditions.

The only surefire way to confirm if an abnormal growth inside the body is cancerous is to perform a biopsy. So, if there’s a mass in your ovary, your doctor will likely order a biopsy for a confirmed diagnosis of its nature.

Ovarian Cancer Staging

Once it’s confirmed that a patient has ovarian cancer, the next step is to find out how much it has grown and spread into the body. This is called staging.

Cancer staging is performed on the basis of three primary factors:

The extent or size of the tumor
Has it spread to nearby lymph nodes?
Has it metastasized to distant organs?

Here’s a quick overview of ovarian cancer stages to help you develop a better understanding

Stage I – The cancer is only in the ovary and/or fallopian tube(s).
Stage II – Cancer has spread to surrounding organs in the pelvis, like the bladder, uterus, or rectum, but hasn’t spread to lymph nodes.
Stage III – Cancer has started to spread outside the pelvis. It may or may not have spread to the nearby lymph nodes.
Stage IV – Cancer has reached lymph nodes and also started to spread to distant organs.

Each ovarian cancer stages is further divided into multiple subcategories or sub-stages, depending on the exact pattern of cancer growth and the organs it has affected.

Is Ovarian Cancer Hereditary?

Having a family history of ovarian cancer puts you at a higher risk of inheriting faulty BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that increase your risk of ovarian cancer. These inherited faulty genes are responsible for about 5% to 15% of ovarian cancer cases.

Ovarian Cancer Survival Rate

The overall prognosis of ovarian cancer is poor. The reason being the delayed diagnosis of the disease.

Since ovarian cancer doesn’t usually cause any specific symptoms during the initial stages, it remains undiagnosed until the disease has grown to an advanced stage and spread in the body. However, if detected at an early stage, ovarian cancer has a really good prognosis.

It’s important to note that the survival rate of ovarian cancer (or any cancer, for that matter) depends on multiple factors. In general early detection is associated with a good prognosis. However, the size, location, and type of the tumor, the genetic makeup of the patient, response to treatment, and overall health also play a key role in it.

What Does 5-Year Survival Rate Mean?

Cancer prognosis or survival rate is mostly given as the 5-year survival rate. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that everyone knows what this term means before we discuss survival rates for different stages of ovarian cancer.

The 5-year survival rate estimates the percentage of people with the same type and stage of cancer who’re still alive five years after their diagnosis.

This doesn’t guarantee that you or a loved one diagnosed with the same type and stage of cancer will also be alive after five years, but it gives an idea of treatment efficiency and how likely it is to be successful in general.

What is the Survival Rate for Ovarian Cancer?

The overall survival rate for ovarian cancer is estimated (by different sources) between 49% and a little over 50%.

There are several databases available for cancer survival rate estimations. We’re going to look at two of them that are among the most reliable sources and widely accepted.

Ovarian Cancer Survival Rate – American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)

As reported by the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, here’s what the AJCC reports the average 5-year survival rate for ovarian cancer at different stages is:

Stage I

Early-stage ovarian cancer has an excellent prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of 89%. However, the ovarian cancer diagnosis rate at Stage I is very low. Only about 17% of ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed at the first stage.

Stage II

19% of ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed at Stage II, where the average 5-year survival rate is 71%.

Stage III

When ovarian cancer is diagnosed at a stage where it has already started to spread outside the pelvis to the nearby lymph nodes and/or other parts of the abdomen, the 5-year survival rate drops to 41%.

Stage IV

Ovarian cancer is classified as Stage IV when it has metastasized and spread to distant areas. According to National Cancer Institute, most (57%) ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at this stage. The 5-year survival rate for Stage IV ovarian cancer is around 20%.

Ovarian Cancer Survival Rate – Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance

Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) is a leading ovarian cancer research, charity, and advocacy foundation. Its database provides a slightly better picture of ovarian cancer survival rate.

Overall Survival Rate for Ovarian Cancer

According to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, the overall 5-year survival rate for all types of ovarian cancer is more than 50%. The survival rate for 3 years is over 60%, and for 1 year is 78% on average.

Ovarian Cancer Survival Rate at Different Stages

The 5-year survival rate at different stages of ovarian cancer, as calculated by the OCRA, is:

Stage 1 – 93%
Stage II – 74%
Stage III – 41%
Stage IV – 31%

Ovarian Cancer Survival Rate – National Cancer Institute

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) maintains a national database of survival rates for different types of cancers. It’s called SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database and is one of the most (if not the most) reliable sources out there.

Important:

However, NCI doesn’t use the same criteria as other databases or the one we just discussed. Instead of stages, NCI classifies ovarian cancer as Localized (limited to the ovaries), Regional (spread to the nearby organs and/or lymph nodes), and distant (spread to distant organs or body parts).

As for the survival rate, NCI provides a “5-Year Relative Survival Rate,” which is the estimation of how likely the patient is to live for five years after diagnosis as compared to someone who doesn’t have cancer.

Now that we know the criteria, let’s look at the survival rate for different types of ovarian cancer in the US, as reported by the National Cancer Institute:

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As per National Cancer Institute statistics, epithelial ovarian cancer has the worst prognosis, and germ cell ovarian cancer has the best prognosis. Fallopian tube cancer seems to spread most aggressively once it grows out of them.

Ovarian Cancer Treatment Options

There are multiple treatments available for ovarian cancer, and the treatment plan for a patient typically involves more than one approach. And while there are standard protocols or approaches commonly used for different types and stages of ovarian cancer, every patient’s plan may look different, depending on their condition, choices, overall health, and response to various treatments.

Ovarian cancer treatments can be broadly divided into two categories:

Localized Treatments (specifically target the tumor)

Surgery
Radiation Therapy

Systemic Treatments (non-surgical treatments/ therapies that involve using drugs)

Chemotherapy
Hormone Therapy
Targeted Drug Therapy

Clinical Trials for Ovarian Cancer

A clinical trial is never the first line of approach for ovarian cancer treatment. However, doctors may suggest it for patients not responding well to standard treatments.

There are multiple online platforms that patients and their families can use to find clinical trials for ovarian cancer. Here are some of them:

Conclusion

Ovarian cancer may not be one of the most common types of cancer, but it causes the most number of deaths among all gynecological cancers. The primary reason for it is late diagnosis. Ovarian cancer doesn’t usually cause any signs or symptoms during the initial stages. Moreover, most of its symptoms are non-specific and associated with a range of health conditions. What makes the situation even worse is that there’s no reliable ovarian cancer screening test.

Together, all these factors make an early diagnosis of ovarian cancer difficult, leading to a not-so-great prognosis.

While there is no foolproof way out of this, regular health checkups are one way to stay on top of your health and detect ovarian cancer (or any other health issues) in a timely manner.