New studies have shown tremendous improvements in ovarian cancer outlooks for patients over the past half-century. Advances in medical care mean that women who are diagnosed with the disease, called the “silent killer,” are more able to be treated. Better options in healthcare, chemotherapy, and surgery are helping to boost survival rates for women. According to the study:
“Women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, traditionally viewed as an aggressive killer, are much more likely to survive the disease than they were several decades ago, new research shows.
"Ovarian cancer, unfortunately, is associated with a very high death rate," said study author Dr. Jason Wright, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.
But that seems to be changing, he said.
"We wanted to do this study because there have been a number of advances in the treatment of ovarian cancer," Wright said. "There is better surgery, better chemo and better ways to deliver the chemo. More recently, there has also been a better understanding of the biology and genetics of the cancer."
To see if these advances have made an impact on survival rates, Wright's team evaluated nearly 50,000 women who were diagnosed with the disease between 1975 and 2011. All of the data came from a large national cancer database.
"We compared survival for women with cancer compared to women without cancer [in the general population]," he said.
After accounting for advances in general medical care, Wright said, "women diagnosed in 2006 compared to those diagnosed in 1975 are about 50 percent less likely to die from their ovarian cancer."
Survival improved for all stages of ovarian cancer from 1975 to 2011, Wright found. Women with stage 1 cancers were 49 percent less likely to die of the cancer in 2006. Those with stage 3 and 4 cancers were about 51 percent less likely to die.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.webmd.com/ovarian-cancer/news/20150507/study-sees-improving-survival-odds-for-ovarian-cancer
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