Survival Rate of Ovarian Cancer

Living with ovarian cancer may make you wonder about the prognosis. While knowing the prognosis could be helpful, it is important to know that it is only a general guideline. The individual outlook depends on several factors such as age and overall health or wellbeing. 

Survival rates can give you an idea of what percentage of an individual with the same type and stage of cancer are still alive a certain amount of time after they were diagnosed. They can’t tell you how long you will live, but they may help give you a better understanding of how likely it is that your treatment will be successful. 

A 5-Year Relative Survival Rate 

A relative survival rate compares people with the same type and stage of cancer to people in the overall population. For instance, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a certain stage of ovarian cancer is 80%, it means individuals who have that cancer are, on average, about 80% as likely as people who don’t have that cancer to live for at least 5 years after being diagnosed. 

Survival Rate for Ovarian Cancer 

These rates are adjusted to account for women with ovarian cancer who die of other causes. 

• If ovarian cancer is confined to the ovary when it’s found, the 5-year survival rate is about 92%. Note that few ovarian cancers are found at this stage.
• For all stages of ovarian cancer combined, the overall 5-year survival rate is 46%. Women who are younger when diagnosed tend to do better than older women with ovarian cancer. 
• Ovarian cancer that’s grown just outside the ovary into nearby tissues has a 5-year survival rate of about 73%.
• The 5-year survival rate for women with ovarian cancer that has spread to distant parts of the body is about 28%. 

What Affects Survival?

Your outcome depends on the stage of cancer when it was diagnosed. This means how big it is and whether it has spread. The type and grade of ovarian cancer affect your likely survival. Grade means how abnormal the cells look under the microscope. Your likely survival can be affected as well by whether the surgeon can remove all the tumors during the initial surgery.

Your overall health and fitness may also be affected by your survival. Doctors have a way of grading how well you are. This is called performance status. Women who have a good performance status have a better outlook. In addition, age may also affect the outcome and survival. 

About the survival rates and what you might expect, you may ask your healthcare provider. Keep in mind that statistics are based on large groups of people. They cannot be used to say what will happen to you. No two people are exactly alike. Treatment and how well people respond to treatment vary.