Ovarian cancer occurs when cells in one or both ovaries proliferate out of control. Although women of all ages are susceptible to ovarian cancer, around half of those that are diagnosed are age 63 or older, according to the American Cancer Society. It also notes that in the past 20 years, incidence went down by 1% to 2% per year from 1990 to mid-2010s, and by almost 3% per year from 2015 to 2019. Death from ovarian cancer also declined from 2% annually during the 2000s and early 2010s, to more than 3% annually from 2016 to 2020.

There were an estimated 19,880 new cases and about 12,801 deaths from ovarian cancer in the United States in 2022, according to the National Cancer Institute.

A woman's chances of getting ovarian cancer in her lifetime sit at around 1 in 78, with the lifetime chance of dying from the disease at around 1 in 108, according to the American Cancer Society.

Ovarian cancer is rare, but it's the fifth most frequent cause of cancer death in women in the United States, said Dr. David Cohn, a gynecologic oncologist and the chief medical officer at The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. The disease is usually discovered late in its progression, which makes it more dangerous, he said.

"The reason why many women end up dying of it is that it tends to be picked up [by doctors] later in the course of the disease, rather than early," Cohn said. "Otherwise, [it would] be very curable."

Types of ovarian cancer

Less common are germ cell ovarian tumors, which occur in the egg-producing cells of the ovary, often in women younger than 30 years of age.

The other type consists of sex cord-stromal ovarian tumors, which occur in the ovary cells that release female hormones, said Cohn.