Ovarian cancer mortality statistics

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Cancer Research UK supports GPs to deliver best practice. We have created a central resources hub for Health Professionals which hosts all of our CRUK resources and further materials to help with managing the pandemic. We are updating the information as guidance changes. There is also a page specifically for patients on our about cancer hub.

Health Professional COVID-19 and Cancer Hub

Deaths

Deaths from ovarian cancer, 2016-2018, UK.

 

Proportion of all deaths

Percentage ovarian cancer contributes to total cancer deaths, 2016-2018, UK

 

Age

Peak rate of ovarian cancer deaths, 2016-2018, UK

 

Trend over time

Change in ovarian cancer mortality rates since the early 1970s, Females, UK

Ovarian cancer is the 6th most common cause of cancer death in females in the UK, accounting for 5% of all cancer deaths in females (2018).In females and males combined, ovarian cancer is the 15th most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for 3% of all cancer deaths (2018).[1-3]

Ovarian cancer mortality rates (European age-standardised (AS) rates) Open a glossary itemare significantly higher than the UK average in Northern Ireland and Scotland and similar to the UK average in all other UK constituent countries.

For ovarian cancer mortality and incidence rates do not vary between the UK constituent nations.

Ovarian Cancer (C56-C57.4), Number of Deaths, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Mortality Rates per 100,000 Population, Females, UK, 2018

  England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland UK
Female Deaths 3,482 392 224 121 4,219
Crude Rate 12.3 14.1 14.1 12.7 12.5
AS Rate 12.3 13.5 12.6 13.5 12.5
AS Rate - 95% LCL 11.9 12.1 11.0 11.1 12.1
AS Rate - 95% UCL 12.7 14.8 14.3 15.9 12.8
Persons Deaths 3,482 392 224 121 4,219
Crude Rate 6.2 7.2 7.1 6.4 6.4
AS Rate 6.6 7.4 6.8 7.5 6.7
AS Rate - 95% LCL 6.4 6.7 5.9 6.1 6.5
AS Rate - 95% UCL 6.8 8.1 7.7 8.8 6.9

95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits Open a glossary item around the AS Rate Open a glossary item

See also

Ovarian cancer incidence statistics by UK region

Ovarian cancer survival statistics

Cancer mortality statistics for common cancers in the UK

References

  1. Data were provided by the Office for National Statistics on request, November 2019. Similar data can be found here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths.
  2. Data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, October 2019. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/index.asp.
  3. Data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, June 2020. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.

About this data

Data is for UK, 2018, C56-C57.4.

Last reviewed:

Ovarian cancer mortality is strongly related to age, with the highest mortality rates being in older women. In the UK in 2016-2018, on average each year almost half of deaths (45%) were in females aged 75 and over.[1-3] This largely reflects higher incidence and lower survival for ovarian cancer in older people.

Age-specific mortality rates rise steadily from around age 30-34 and more steeply from around age 45-49, with a sharp drop in the oldest age groups. The highest rates are in the 85 to 89 age group.  

Ovarian Cancer (C56-C57.4), Average Number of Deaths per Year and Age-Specific Mortality Rates per 100,000 Female Population, UK, 2016-2018

See also

Ovarian cancer incidence statistics by age

Ovarian cancer survival statistics

Cancer mortality statistics by age for all cancers

References

  1. Data were provided by the Office for National Statistics on request, November 2019. Similar data can be found here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths.
  2. Data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, October 2019. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/index.asp.
  3. Data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, June 2020. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.

About this data

Data is for UK, 2016-2018, ICD-10 C56-C57.4.

Last reviewed:

Ovarian cancer European age-standardised Open a glossary item (AS) mortality rates for females decreased by 21% in the UK between 1971-1973 and 2016-2018.[1-3]

Over the last decade in the UK (between 2006-2008 and 2016-2018), ovarian cancer AS mortality rates for females decreased by 15%.

Ovarian Cancer (C56-C57.4), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Population, Females, UK, 1971-2018

For most cancer types, mortality trends largely reflect incidence and survival trends. For example, rising mortality may reflect rising incidence and stable survival, while falling mortality may reflect rising incidence and rising survival.

Ovarian cancer mortality rates have decreased overall in some broad age groups in females in the UK since the early 1970s, but have increased in others.[1-3] Rates in 0-24s have decreased by 76%, in 25-49s have decreased by 72%, in 50-59s have decreased by 56%, in 60-69s have decreased by 33%, in 70-79s have increased by 16% and in 80+s have increased by 67%.

Ovarian Cancer (C56-C57.4), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Population, By Age, Females, UK, 1971-2018

See also

Ovarian cancer incidence trends over time

Ovarian cancer survival trends over time

Ovarian cancer risk factors

References

  1. Data were provided by the Office for National Statistics on request, November 2019. Similar data can be found here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths.
  2. Data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, October 2019. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/index.asp.
  3. Data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, June 2020. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.

About this data

Data is for UK, 1971-2018, C56-C57.4

Last reviewed:

Ovarian cancer mortality rates are projected to fall by 37% in the UK between 2014 and 2035, to 10 deaths per 100,000 females by 2035.[1]

Ovarian cancer (C56-C57.4), Observed and Projected Age-Standardised Mortality Rates, by Sex, UK, 1979-2035

Download the data table (xls)

It is projected that 3,744 deaths from ovarian cancer will occur in the UK in 2035.

See also

Find out how these projections were calculated

Mortality trends over time for ovarian cancer

Projections of mortality for all cancers combined

Download the projections data table

References

  1. Smittenaar CR, Petersen KA, Stewart K, Moitt N. Cancer Incidence and Mortality Projections in the UK Until 2035. Brit J Cancer 2016.

About this data

Data is for: UK, 1979-2014 (observed), 2015-2035 (projected), ICD-10 C56-C57.4

Projections are based on observed incidence and mortality rates and therefore implicitly include changes in cancer risk factors, diagnosis and treatment. It is not possible to assess the statistical significance of changes between 2014 (observed) and 2035 (projected) figures. Confidence intervals are not calculated for the projected figures. Projections are by their nature uncertain because unexpected events in future could change the trend. It is not sensible to calculate a boundary of uncertainty around these already uncertain point estimates. Changes are described as 'increase' or 'decrease' if there is any difference between the point estimates.

More on projections methodology

Last reviewed:

There is no evidence for an association between ovarian cancer mortality and deprivation in England.[1] England-wide data for 2007-2011 show European age-standardised Open a glossary item mortality rates are similar for females living in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived.[1]

Ovarian Cancer (C56-C57), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates by Deprivation Quintile, Females, England, 2007-2011

The estimated deprivation gradient in ovarian cancer mortality between females living in the most and least deprived areas in England has not changed in the period 2002-2011.[1]

See also

Find out more about the counting and coding of this data

Deprivation gradient for cancer mortality

Deprivation gradient in ovarian cancer incidence

Socio-economic variation in cancer mortality for Scotland

Socio-economic variation in cancer mortality for Wales

Socio-economic variation in cancer mortality for Northern Ireland

References

  1. Cancer Research UK and National Cancer Intelligence Network. Cancer by deprivation in England: Incidence, 1996-2010, Mortality, 1997-2011. London: NCIN; 2014.

About this data

Data is for: UK, 2007-2011, ICD-10 C56-C57

Deprivation gradient statistics were calculated using mortality data for 2007-2011. The deprivation quintiles were calculated using the Income domain scores from the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) from the following years: 2004, 2007 and 2010. Full details on the data and methodology can be found in the Cancer by Deprivation in England NCIN report.

Last reviewed:

Cancer stats explained

See information and explanations on terminology used for statistics and reporting of cancer, and the methods used to calculate some of our statistics.

Cancer stats explained

Citation

You are welcome to reuse this Cancer Research UK content for your own work.
Credit us as authors by referencing Cancer Research UK as the primary source. Suggested styles are:

Web content: Cancer Research UK, full URL of the page, Accessed [month] [year].
Publications: Cancer Research UK ([year of publication]), Name of publication, Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when reused unaltered): Credit: Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when recreated with differences): Based on a graphic created by Cancer Research UK.

When Cancer Research UK material is used for commercial reasons, we encourage a donation to our life-saving research.
Send a cheque payable to Cancer Research UK to: Cancer Research UK, 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ or

Donate online

Join the conversation and follow @CRUKHCPs for news, updates and opinion.

 @CRUKHCPs

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.