Ovarian cancer survival
Survival depends on many factors. No one can tell you exactly how long you will live.
Below are general statistics based on large groups of people. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case.
Survival by stage
There are no UK-wide statistics available for ovarian cancer survival by stage.
Survival statistics are available for each stage of ovarian cancer in England. These figures are for people diagnosed between 2013 and 2017.
Stage 1
Almost 95 out of 100 women (almost 95%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Stage 2
Almost 70 out of 100 women (almost 70%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after being diagnosed.
Stage 3
More than 25 out of 100 women (more than 25%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Stage 4
Almost 15 out of 100 women (almost 15%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics
These statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
Survival for all stages of ovarian cancer
For women with ovarian cancer in England:
- more than 70 out of 100 women (more than 70%) will survive their cancer for 1 year or more after they are diagnosed
- almost 45 out of 100 women (almost 45%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more
- 35 out of 100 women (35%) will survive their cancer for 10 years or more
Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics
These statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
What affects survival
Your outcome depends on the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed. This means how big it is and whether it has spread.
The type and grade of ovarian cancer affects your likely survival. Grade means how abnormal the cells look under the microscope.
Your likely survival is also affected by whether the surgeon can remove all the tumour during initial surgery.
Your general health and fitness may also affect 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.
Age also affects outcome and survival is better for younger women.
About these statistics
The terms 1 year survival and 5 year survival don't mean that you will only live for 1 or 5 years.
The NHS, other health organisations, and researchers collect information. They watch what happens to people with cancer in the years after their diagnosis. 5 years is a common time point to measure survival. But some people live much longer than this.
5 year survival is the number of people who have not died from their cancer within 5 years after diagnosis.
More statistics
For more in-depth information about survival and other statistics for ovarian cancer, go to our Cancer Statistics section.
