What is ovarian cancer?

Ovarian cancer starts when cells in one or both ovaries grow and divide abnormally. There are many types of ovarian cancer, but the three most common types are epithelian (developing from cells on the outside of the ovary), germ cell (developing from cells that produce eggs) and stromal (developing from supporting tissues within the ovary).Ovarian cancer incidence rates have seemingly been decreasing recently. However, research has shown that some cancers previously thought to be ovarian are serous carcinomas of the fallopian tubes or the peritoneum and are now being classified as such. Therefore to understand ovarian cancer trends over time serous carcinoma of the fallopian tubes should be included in statistics calculated for ovarian cancer. In this Fact Sheet the term ovary includes serous carcinoma of the fallopian tubes. For further reading on this subject see Australian Institue of Health and Welfare commentary website.

You can access further information about ovarian cancer, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from Cancer Council Victoria. You can also call our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about our range of services for people affected by cancer.

The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web portal, Data Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published here.

How common is ovarian cancer?

In 2023, 285 Victorian females were diagnosed with ovarian cancer (only) and 212 with serous carcinoma of the fallopian tubes. Currently, ovarian cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 12.1 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of ovarian cancer is 65 (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 0.7% of all cancers diagnosed and 1.6% of all cancer-related deaths in 2023, ovarian cancer was the 26th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 17th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victorian females.

Trends in ovarian cancer over time

For females between 2008 to 2023 the age standardised incidence rate of ovarian cancer declined by an average of 4.1% per year.

Ovarian cancer morphology

Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells (morphology) which have caused ovarian cancers among all cases. Most ovarian cancer tumours, 56.6%, present as serous carcinoma tumours.

Geographical variance in ovarian cancer by local government area

Figure 5 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates of ovarian cancer, by local government areas. Darker shading indicates areas with higher rates of ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer in people born overseas

Figure 6 shows the age standardised incidence rates of ovarian cancer in Australian-born Victorian females compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2018 to 2022. The highest age standardised incidence rate of 13.5 was observed in those born in the Middle East and North Africa region and lowest rate of 6.1 was observed in people born in the North America region.

Ovarian cancer five-year relative survival

Figure 7 shows the change in 5-year survival for ovarian cancer, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for ovarian cancer between 1983-1987 and 2018-2022 from 33% to 49%.