About ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer forms in tissues of the ovary, the reproductive glands in which ova, or eggs, are formed. Most ovarian cancers are either ovarian epithelial carcinomas (cancer that begins in the cells on the surface of the ovary) or malignant germ cell tumors (cancer that begins in the egg cells).
Ovarian Cancer is a serious and under-recognized threat to women's health:
- Ovarian cancer, the deadliest of the gynecologic cancers, is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. Women.
- Ovarian cancer occurs in 1 out of 57 women.
- An estimated 15,000 American women will die from ovarian cancer each year.
- Currently, about 50 percent of the women diagnosed with ovarian cancer die from it within five years. Among African
- American women only about 46 percent survive five years or more.
- Three out of four cases are detected in late stage when five-year survival is about 25 percent.
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