What is the prognosis for ovarian cancer?
Prognosis for ovarian cancer depends greatly on the stage at which it is first diagnosed. While stage I cancer may have a 95% success rate, stages III and IV may have a survival rate of 17-30% at five years post-diagnosis. Early detection remains an elusive, yet hopeful, goal of research. Also, clinical trials are addressing new drug and treatment combinations to prolong survival in women with more advanced disease. Learning one’s family history may assist in early detection, and genetic studies may clarify who is at greater risk for the disease. Research studies are usually designed to compare a new treatment method against the standard method, or the effectiveness of a drug against a placebo (an inert substance that would be expected to have no effect on the outcome). Since the research is experimental in nature, there are no guarantees about the outcome. New drugs being used may have harmful, unknown side effects. Some people participate to help further knowledge about their disease
