Statistics

Prevalence & Incidence:

Accounting for 4% of all cancers in women, ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women and the second most common gynecologic cancer (second to breast cancer) in the United States [2]. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 22,240 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed in the United States during 2018 [3, 4]. Primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube is very rare, comprising only 1-2% of all gynecologic cancers [5]. Primary peritoneal cancers are much rarer.

Because it produces few early warning signs and is therefore often detected at a later stage, about 60 percent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer have advanced disease at the time of diagnosis [6].

Survival Rates:

In the United States, ovarian cancer is the thirteenth leading cause of cancer death [7]. Prognosis for fallopian tube cancer is slightly better than that of ovarian cancer [3]. Prognostic factors include extent of disease, residual tumor bulk after operation, and grade of tumor. Favorable prognostic factors include age (young at diagnosis), good performance status, absence of ascites, and cell type other than mucinous or clear cell carcinoma. Because of their rarity, survival rates are not presented for fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancers.

(from the National Cancer Institute's SEER Cancer Statistics Review (CSR) 1975-2015 [7])

*Note: The 8th edition of the AJCC Cancer Staging Manual applies the same staging system to ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancers. The CSR, from which these statistics were obtained, reports on survival statistics for ovarian and fallopian tube separately and does not report on primary peritoneal cancers given their rarity.

Updated: September 4, 2018