Ovarian cancer statistics

Cases

New cases of ovarian cancer, 2016-2018, UK

Deaths

Deaths from ovarian cancer, 2017-2019, UK.

Survival

Survive ovarian cancer for 10 or more years, 2013-2017, England

Preventable cases

Ovarian cancer cases are preventable, UK, 2015

 

 

  • There are around 7,500 new ovarian cancer cases in the UK every year, that's 21 every day (2016-2018).
  • In females in the UK, ovarian cancer is the 6th most common cancer, with around 7,500 new cases every year (2016-2018).
  • Ovarian cancer accounts for 4% of all new cancer cases in females in the UK (2016-2018).
  • Ovarian cancer accounts for 2% of all new cancer cases in females and males combined in the UK (2016-2018).
  • Incidence rates for ovarian cancer in the UK are highest in females aged 75 to 79 (2016-2018).
  • Each year more than a quarter (28%) of all new ovarian cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed in females aged 75 and over (2016-2018).
  • Since the early 1990s, ovarian cancer incidence rates have remained stable in females in the UK (2016-2018).
  • Over the last decade, ovarian cancer incidence rates have decreased by a twentieth (5%) in females in the UK (2016-2018).
  • The most common specific location for ovarian cancers in the UK is the ovary itself (2016-2018).
  • See our new Early Diagnosis Data Hub for statistics on stage at diagnosis for ovarian cancer.
  • Ovarian cancer incidence rates are projected to rise by 5% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040.
  • There could be around 9,400 new cases of ovarian cancer every year in the UK by 2038-2040, projections suggest.
  • Ovarian cancer incidence rates in England in females are similar in the most deprived quintile compared with the least (2013-2017).
  • Incidence rates for ovarian cancer are lower in the Asian and Black ethnic groups, and in people of mixed or multiple ethnicity, compared with the White ethnic group, in females in England (2013-2017). See our publication Cancer Incidence by Broad Ethnic Group for more details.
  • An estimated 41,000 women who had previously been diagnosed with ovarian cancer were alive in the UK at the end of 2010.

See more in-depth ovarian cancer incidence statistics

  • There are around 4,100 ovarian cancer deaths in the UK every year, that's 11 every day (2017-2019).
  • Ovarian cancer is the the 6th most common cause of cancer death in females in the UK, accounting for 5% of all cancer deaths in females in the UK (2017-2019).
  • Ovarian cancer accounts for 2% of all cancer deaths in females and males combined in the UK (2017-2019).
  • Mortality rates for ovarian cancer in the UK are highest in females aged 85 to 89 (2017-2019).
  • Each year almost half of all ovarian cancer deaths (45%) in the UK are in females aged 75 and over (2017-2019).
  • Since the early 1970s, ovarian cancer mortality rates have decreased by almost a quarter (23%) in females in the UK (2017-2019).
  • Over the last decade, ovarian cancer mortality rates have decreased by almost a sixth (16%) in females in the UK (2017-2019).
  • Mortality rates for ovarian cancer are generally similar or lower in females of non-White minority ethnicity, compared with the White ethnic group, in England and Wales (2017-2019). See the publication Mortality from leading causes of death by ethnic group, England and Wales.
  • Ovarian cancer mortality rates are projected to fall by 15% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040.
  • There could be around around 4,100 deaths of ovarian cancer every year in the UK by 2038-2040, projections suggest.
  • Ovarian cancer in England is not associated with deprivation.

See more in-depth ovarian cancer mortality statistics

  • More than 1 in 3 (35.3%) women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in England survive their disease for ten years or more, it is predicted (2013-2017).
  • Around 8 in 10 (81.2%) women in England diagnosed with ovarian cancer aged 15-44 survive their disease for ten years or more, compared with more than a fifth (21.5%) of women diagnosed aged 75-99 (2013-2017).
  • Ovarian cancer survival has almost doubled in the last 50 years in the UK.
  • In the 1970s, less than a fifth (18.2%) of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer survived their disease beyond ten years, by the 2010s it was more than a third (34.5%).
  • Almost half (45.7%) of women in England diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the least deprived group survive their disease for five years or more, compared with more than 4 in 10 (42.4%) women in the most deprived group (2016-2020).
  • Five-year relative survival for ovarian cancer in women is below the European average in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Further details on cancer survival in Europe can be found on the EUROCARE website.
  • For ovarian cancer, like other cancer sites, survival trends reflect a combination of changes in treatment and stage distribution. These factors themselves can vary by age, sex and deprivation.
  • Further survival statistics by stage can be found on the Early Diagnosis Data Hub and information on treatments for cancer can be found here.

Find further information on our leukaemia cancer survival trends page

  • A person’s risk of developing cancer depends on many factors, including age, genetics, and exposure to risk factors (including some potentially avoidable lifestyle factors).
  • 1 in 50 UK females will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in their lifetime
  • 11% of ovarian cancer cases in the UK are preventable.

See more in-depth ovarian cancer risk statistics

See the interactive cancer treatment online tool produced by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) in partnership with Cancer Research UK (CRUK). This presents, for the first time, population-based statistics on chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical tumour resections in England, by demographic factors and geography.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the many organisations across the UK which collect, analyse, and share the data which we use, and to the patients and public who consent for their data to be used. Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics.