Why is ovarian cancer so important?

Why study ovarian cancer?

More than 1,300 women are diagnosed with invasive ovarian cancer in Australia every year and sadly, only 4 in 10 women will still be alive after five years.

Women diagnosed with ovarian cancer often ask what they can do to improve their chances of beating the disease. Unfortunately, at the moment, we cannot answer this question.

This is because women diagnosed can respond very differently to treatment and have very different outcomes. This variation suggests that other factors are also important in determining survival. The OPAL study is set up to find these factors by surveying women from all around Australia who have been newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer.