How Long Do You Live After Being Diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer?

Ovarian cancer often does not cause symptoms early on and it is diagnosed in later stages. About 30% of women live 10 years or more following diagnosis, depending on when the cancer is detected, how much it has spread (metastasized), patient age and health, and how the cancer responds to treatment.

Ovarian cancer is a type of cancer that occurs when cells in the ovaries, the female reproductive glands, become abnormal and grow out of control. 

Because ovarian cancer often does not cause symptoms early in the disease, it is often not diagnosed until the later stages. Survival rates are relatively high when the disease is detected early. Overall, about 30% of women live 10 years or more following diagnosis.

A number of factors can affect a woman’s prognosis, such as: 

• How early the cancer is detected
• How much the cancer has spread (metastasized)
• The patient’s age
• Overall health
• How well the cancer responds to treatment

Life expectancy for ovarian cancer is often expressed in five-year survival rates, that is, how many people will be alive five years after diagnosis. Survival rates vary depending on the types of ovarian cancer. 

Invasive epithelial ovarian cancer five-year survival rates:

• Localized (no sign the cancer has spread outside the ovaries): 92%
• Regional (cancer has spread outside the ovaries to nearby structures or lymph nodes): 76%
• Distant (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the liver or lungs): 30%

Ovarian stromal tumors five-year survival rates:

• Localized (no sign the cancer has spread outside the ovaries): 98%
• Regional (cancer has spread outside the ovaries to nearby structures or lymph nodes): 89%
• Distant (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the liver or lungs): 54%

Germ cell tumors of the ovary five-year survival rates:

• Localized (no sign the cancer has spread outside the ovaries): 98%
• Regional (cancer has spread outside the ovaries to nearby structures or lymph nodes): 94%
• Distant (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the liver or lungs): 74%