Survival statistics for ovarian cancer

Survival statistics for cancer are very general estimates and must be interpreted very carefully. Because these statistics are based on the experience of groups of people, they cannot be used to predict a particular person's chances of survival.

There are many different ways to measure and report cancer survival statistics. Your doctor can explain these statistics and what they mean to you.

Cancer statistics are currently collected, analyzed and reported based on the sex assigned at birth, with male/men and female/women categories. We need to address gaps in how statistics are collected to better understand cancer in transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse people.

Net survival represents the probability (chance) of surviving cancer in the absence of other causes of death. It's used to give an estimate of the percentage of people who will survive cancer.

In Canada, the 5-year net survival for ovarian cancer is 44%. This means that about 44% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer will survive for at least 5 years.

Survival varies with each type of ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer and how much the cancer has spread. Generally, the earlier these cancers are diagnosed and treated, the better the outcome.

Survival by type of ovarian cancer and extent of ovarian or fallopian cancer spread is reported as 5-year relative survival. Relative survival looks at how likely people with cancer are to survive after their diagnosis compared to people in the general population who do not have cancer, but who share similar characteristics (such as age and sex).

There are no specific Canadian statistics available for the different stages and types of ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer. The following information comes from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. It includes survival rates for ovarian and fallopian tube cancers in the United States and is likely to have similar outcomes as those in Canada. SEER lists survival based on how much the cancer has spread from where it originally started. It uses localized, regional and distant stages instead of the FIGO number staging system.

• Localized means there is no sign that the cancer has spread outside of the ovaries.
• Regional means the cancer has spread outside the ovaries to nearby structures or lymph nodes.
• Distant means the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the liver or lungs.

SEER does not include survival rates for primary peritoneal cancer. The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) reports that the 5-year relative survival for all stages of fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancers is about 50%. The most important factor for 5-year survival of these cancers is whether cancer has spread from where it started to other parts of the body.

Talk to your doctor about your prognosis. A prognosis depends on many factors, including:

• your health history
• the type of cancer
• the stage
• certain aspects of the cancer, such as fluid in the abdomen (ascites)or cancer cells found in the peritoneum after a pelvic washing
• the treatments chosen
• how the cancer responds to treatment

Only a doctor familiar with these factors can put all of this information together with survival statistics to arrive at a prognosis.