Time for Action on Ovarian Cancer

This article has been commissioned and funded by AbbVie. This article is intended for UK parliamentarians, and policy makers, and members of the general public with an interest in health policy.

World Ovarian Cancer Day unites people across the world to raise awareness of ovarian cancer - a disease that affected over 320,000 women globally, in 2022.¹

The call for better awareness, diagnosis and care is a message that needs to be heard in this country. There are over 4,000 deaths from ovarian cancer in the UK annually, which equates to 11 deaths per day.² Survival rates lag behind Europe.³ Access to treatment may vary depending on where you live.⁴ Diagnosis often comes at a late stage.^5,6

It is time that situation was addressed and the Government’s new National Cancer Plan could provide the strategic focus that has been lacking for too long.

“This year, World Ovarian Cancer Day falls as the Government continues to develop its new National Cancer Plan,” Rachael Millward, UK Medical Director from AbbVie UK told Politics Home. “This National Plan can potentially provide a focus for action. With the appropriate action, survival rates could start to climb. If not, the UK risks falling further behind.”

In the UK, ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer among women, with more than 7,000 women diagnosed every year.⁵  Whilst more than half of all cases of ovarian cancer in the UK occur in women aged 65 and over, it can occur in anyone with ovaries at any age.⁷ Unfortunately, most women are diagnosed too late. In 2020, in England, around 60% of cases were caught at stage 3 or 4.⁸ That affects the chances of survival. Based on data for people diagnosed between 2016-20, in England, if caught early (stage 1), the five-year survival rate is as high as 95% after diagnosis but at later stages, that figure drops sharply with only around 15% five-year survival when diagnosed in stage 4.⁹

It is not only late diagnosis that costs lives. There are also deep inequalities in care. Women living in deprived areas are less likely to receive the full standard of treatment meaning diagnosis is delayed and opportunities for early treatment are lost.⁴

AbbVie would like to see that the National Cancer Plan include specific commitments that can deliver a step change in care.

"The National Cancer Plan could prove to be a turning point." Millward says. "But only if ovarian cancer is given the focus it warrants. We need clear targets, proper funding, and strong leadership to ensure women are diagnosed earlier and treated equally."

Also of concern is the fact that innovation in treatment lags behind other nations. In 2023, the UK's cumulative uptake of gynaecological cancer medicines ranked lowest among the five largest European economies.¹⁰

Innovation for women whose ovarian cancer has relapsed, has been limited. Women living with ovarian cancer with the highest unmet need are not getting the care that they deserve. 

Marie-Claire Platt, Head of Policy and Research, Ovarian Cancer Action, tells us "Ovarian cancer survival rates in the UK create an immense challenge: less than half of women diagnosed today will live more than 5 years, with a rate of around one woman dying every two hours."⁵ Her organisation "has a strong track record of investing in research and creating tools to empower people to navigate risk and diagnosis" Platt tells us. “We need bold action to create tangible progress in survival rates: cutting edge innovations, equitable patient care and faster diagnosis will add up to transform survival rates.”

On World Ovarian Cancer Day we should all remember that behind every statistic are real women, - mothers, wives, daughters, sisters,- in every part of the UK. There is a moment of real opportunity ahead with the National Cancer Plan. With the right action now, women impacted by ovarian cancer can be diagnosed earlier and be given a greater chance of survival.

Date of Preparation: May 2025

Job Bag Number: UK-ONC-250022

Please note PoliticsHome Hyperlinks/websites/tags are non-AbbVie sites and AbbVie are not responsible for content from these links

References

1. World Cancer Research Fund. Ovarian Cancer Statistics. Available at: https://www.wcrf.org/preventing-cancer/cancer-statistics/ovarian-cancer-statistics/. Accessed May 2025
2. Target Ovarian Cancer (2024) Key Facts and Figures. Available at: https://targetovariancancer.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/key-facts-and-figures. Accessed May 2025
3. Ovarian Cancer Action. Survival Rates. Available at: https://ovarian.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/september-campaign/. Accessed May 2025
4. Pickwell-Smith et al. Are there inequalities in ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment in England? A population-based study. Cancer Epidemiology 96 (2025) 102778
5. Ovarian Cancer Action (2025). Ovarian cancer statistics in the UK. Available at: https://ovarian.org.uk/ovarian-cancer/ovarian-cancer-statistics/. Accessed May 2025
6. World Ovarian Cancer Coalition (2022) Global Ovarian Cancer Charter Briefing: Rapid Diagnosis. Available at: https://worldovariancancercoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Rapid-Diagnosis-FINAL.pdf. Accessed May 2025
7. The Eve Appeal. Ovarian Cancer. Available at: https://eveappeal.org.uk/information-and-advice/gynaecological-cancers/ovarian-cancer/ . Accessed May 2025
8. NHS Digital. Cancer Registration Statistics, England 2020. Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/cancer-registration-statistics/england-2020/cancer-incidence-by-stage . Accessed May 2025
9. CRUK. Survival for ovarian cancer. Available at: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/ovarian-cancer/survival. Accessed May 2025
10.  P 132-134, Andrea Manzano, Christer Svedman, Thomas Hofmarcher, Nils Wilking (2025) ‘Comparator Report on Cancer in Europe 2025 – Disease Burden, Costs and Access to Medicines and Molecular Diagnostics’, IHE REPORT 2025:2, IHE: Lund, Sweden.

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