Cancer is a disease in which cells in the body grow out of
control. Cancer is always named for the part of the body where it
starts, even if it spreads to other body parts later. When cancer
starts in the ovaries, it is called ovarian cancer. Women have two
ovaries that are located in the pelvis, one on each side of the
uterus. The ovaries make female hormones and produce eggs.
Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer of the
female reproductive system. But when ovarian cancer is found in its
early stages, treatment is most effective. Ovarian cancer often
causes signs and symptoms, so it is important to pay attention to
your body and know what is normal for you. Symptoms may be caused
by something other than cancer, but the only way to know is to see
your doctor, nurse, or other health care professional.
Learn more about ovarian cancer and its signs
and symptoms by reading Basic Information
About Ovarian Cancer or downloading the Inside
Knowledge campaign's ovarian cancer fact sheet. [PDF-859KB]
Who Gets Ovarian Cancer?
All women are at risk for ovarian cancer, but older women are
more likely to get the disease than younger women. About 90% of
women who get ovarian cancer are older than 40 years of age, with
the greatest number of cases occurring in women aged 60 years or
older.
Each year, about 20,000 women in the United States get ovarian
cancer. Among women in the United States, ovarian cancer is the
eighth most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer
death, after lung and bronchus, breast, colorectal, and pancreatic
cancers. Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer of
the female reproductive system, but it accounts for only about 3%
of all cancers in women. When ovarian cancer is found in its early
stages, treatment is most effective.†
†Source: U.S. Cancer
Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics:
1999–2009 Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report.
Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, and National Cancer Institute;
2013. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/uscs. (full site)