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Page: Expectations (Prognosis)
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Ovarian cancer has a poor prognosis. It is disproportionately deadly because symptoms are vague and non-specific. More than 60% of patients presenting with this disease already have stage III or stage IV disease, when it has already spread beyond the ovaries.
Ovarian cancers shed malignant cells into the naturally occurring fluid within the abdominal cavity. These cells then have the potential to float in this fluid and frequently implant on other abdominal (peritoneal) structures included the uterus, urinary bladder, bowel, and lining of the bowel wall (omentum). These cells can begin forming new tumor growths before cancer is even suspected.
More than 50% of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the advanced stages of the disease because no cost-effective screening test for ovarian cancer exists. The five year survival rate for all stages is only 35% to 38%. If, however, diagnosis is made early in the disease, five-year survival rates can reach 90% to 98%.
Germ Cell Ovarian Cancer has a much better prognosis, but is rarer.
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qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
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