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Back to Oncology Diseases
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a malignant neoplasm (abnormal growth) located on
the ovaries.
Age Ovarian cancer is primarily a disease of postmenopausal
women, with the
large majority of cases occurring in women between 50 and 75 years
old. The
incidence of ovarian cancer increases with age and peaks at a rate
of 61.5 per
100,000 women in the 75?79-year-old age group.
Race The incidence of ovarian cancer appears to vary by race,
although the
effects of race are difficult to separate from those of environment
related to
culture, geography, and socioeconomic status. In the United States,
the ageadjusted
rate of ovarian cancer for Caucasians is estimated to be 17.9 per
100,000
population, which is significantly higher than 11.9 per 100,000 for
the African-
American population.
Geography There are distinct geographic variations in the incidence
of ovarian
cancer, with the highest rates found in the industrialized countries
and the
lowest rates seen in underdeveloped nations. Japan, with an
incidence of only
about 3.0 per 100,000 population, is a notable exception to this
observation. It
has been postulated that geographic variations in the incidence of
ovarian can-
cer are related, in part, to differences in family size.
Some of the highest rates are seen in women of Eastern European
Jewish ancestry,
who have an estimated incidence of 17.2 per 100,000 population, a
probable result of the relatively high frequency of BRCA1 and BRCA2
mutations
in this population.
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