Current status of ovarian cancer in China

  Ovarian cancer is one of the common tumors of female reproductive organs, ranking third in incidence rate after cervical cancer and uterine corpus cancer. However, ovarian cancer accounts for the first place among all kinds of gynecological tumors, and is a malignant tumor that seriously threatens women’s lives. Ovaries are located deep in the pelvis. Ovarian cancer is difficult to be detected or screened, and most ovarian cancers are asymptomatic in early stages. 70% of ovarian cancers have spread to the uterus, bilateral adnexa, greater omentum and pelvic organs by the time of diagnosis, and the tissue type of ovarian cancer is complex, so ovarian cancer is currently a hot spot for research in both diagnosis and treatment.  Among the gynecological malignancies in China, ovarian cancer has the third highest incidence rate, but is the malignancy with the highest mortality rate. The lifetime risk of ovarian cancer in women is 1:70, and ovarian cancer can occur at any age, with the highest incidence in 40-70 years old, most commonly in middle-aged women around 50 years old before and after menopause.  Because the ovaries grow deep in the pelvic cavity and are hidden, they cannot be seen or touched directly, and patients often have no obvious clinical symptoms, resulting in more than 80% of patients being diagnosed at an advanced stage and missing the best time for treatment. At present, the 5-year survival rate of patients with advanced ovarian cancer is only 20%-40%, while the survival rate of early stage patients can reach 70%-90%.