UK Ovarian Cancer mortality statistics

Ovarian cancer accounts for more deaths than all the other gynaecological cancers put together. In 2007, 4,317 UK women died from ovarian cancer, accounting for around 6% of all female deaths from cancer. The number of deaths and the rates for the constituent countries of the UK are shown in Table 2.11-3.

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Figure 2.1 shows the pattern of mortality in specific age groups.

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The ovarian cancer mortality rates in the UK remained fairly stable between the 1970s and the early 2000s. However, since 2002 there has been a 14% drop in mortality rates.( Figure 2.2). This stability is against the backdrop of increasing incidence.

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The stability in the overall mortality masks the variation in mortality trends at different ages. Mortality rates in UK women under 65 years are falling; over the decade 1998-2007, the rate fell by almost a quarter (23%) in women aged 50-64 and by 34% in women aged 40-49. However, ovarian cancer mortality rates in women over 65 have risen. Between 1971 and 2002 there was an increase of 39%, from 41 to 58 per 100,000 women. Since then the rate has dropped slightly to 53 deaths per 100,000 women. ( Figure 2.3).

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