Key Statistics for Ovarian Cancer

The American Cancer Society estimates for ovarian cancer in the United States for 2024 are:

• About 19,680 women will receive a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
• About 12,740 women will die from ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women.

A woman's risk of getting ovarian cancer during her lifetime is about 1 in 87. Her lifetime chance of dying from ovarian cancer is about 1 in 130. (These statistics don’t count low malignant potential ovarian tumors.)

This cancer mainly develops in older women. About half of the women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer are 63 years or older. It is more common in White women than Black women.

Ovarian cancer diagnoses have been slowly falling over the past few decades. The incidence rate declined by 1% to 2% per year from 1990 to the mid-2010s and by almost 3% per year from 2015 to 2019. This is likely due to more use of oral contraceptives and less use of menopausal hormone therapy. 

Fewer women are dying of ovarian cancer as well, likely due to better treatments and fewer women being diagnosed. The rate of ovarian cancer deaths has decreased by 40% since 1975. Most of this progress has happened since the mid-2000s.

Visit the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics Center for more key statistics.