The incidence and survival of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) changed over the course of a decade, according to a recent study published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Researchers across several nations analyzed records of EOC by histological subtype in women living in seven high-income nations from 1995-2014 to determine whether any changes occurred in net survival or incidence. These nations included Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
The study pulled data from 20 cancer registries on EOC in women aged 15-99 years old. The data were stratified by subtype, age, and two separate age groups: 15-64 and 65-99 years old.
Incidence shifted remarkably over the span of the study. For women aged 65-99 years old, there was an average annual increase in serious carcinoma rates from 2.2-5.8% per year. By contrast, the rates of ‘not otherwise specified’ adenocarcinoma dropped from 4.4-7.4% among women aged 15-64 and 2.0-3.7% among women aged 65-99 years old.
Despite the increased incidence of serious carcinoma, net survival rates increased over the duration of the study. The increase in 5-year net survival for all seven countries ranged from 5-12.6% depending on the location.
“Several factors such as changes in guidelines and advancement in diagnostic tools may potentially influence the observed shift in histological subtypes and temporal trends,” the researchers reported. In addition, “progress in clinical management and treatment over the past decades potentially plays a role in the observed improvements in EOC survival.”
Reference
Shifting incidence and survival of epithelial ovarian cancer (1995-2014): a SurvMark-2 study
