Ovarian Cancers Awareness Month 2025 - In Case You Missed It

Abdominal Cancers Alliance
Sep 29, 2025
4 min read

Updated: Sep 30, 2025

During September we recognized Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month to bring more attention to advanced forms of this cancer. In case you missed it, here's a quick recap for the month!

Ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal tumors are treated the same way and often grouped together as “ovarian cancers.” Ovarian cancers are often diagnosed at advanced stages due to symptoms that go unnoticed or mistaken for other medical conditions.

There are several kinds of malignant tumors that originate from the tissue covering the ovary or lining the fallopian tube or peritoneum. These include epithelial (serous) ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancers. Since these tumors have common origins and are treated the same way, they are collectively referred to as “ovarian cancer.”

Annually, approximately 20,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The majority (approximately 80%) of them are diagnosed at an advanced stage with a tumor that has already spread throughout the abdominal cavity (stage III-IV disease). This is largely because early-stage disease is asymptomatic and there are currently no effective screening tools.

Ovarian cancer affects women of all ages; however, it is most commonly diagnosed after menopause. The strongest risk factors are advancing age and a family history of ovarian or breast cancer. Some ovarian cancers are genetically linked through genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, while the cause of most cases remains unknown.

Key Facts about Ovarian Cancer

1️⃣ Ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal tumors are treated the same way and often grouped together as “ovarian cancers.”

2️⃣ The majority of ovarian cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage after the disease has spread throughout the abdomen.

3️⃣ Treatment for ovarian cancer consists of surgery and chemotherapy. The sequence and timing of each portion should be decided together with your surgeon and medical oncologist. The key to achieving the best survival is complete cytoreductive surgery (CRS), in which all visible disease is removed. Having a surgeon who is experienced in removing tumors from both the upper abdomen and pelvis is essential to accomplishing this goal. Emerging evidence supports the addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to cytoreductive surgery, demonstrating that it is associated with longer progression-free and overall survival.

Risk Factors

1️⃣ Age: Commonly occurs between ages 50-60 years

2️⃣ Race: Non-Hispanic, white women

3️⃣ Lifestyle Factors such as obesity and/or smoking

4️⃣ Family history or personal history of cancer, including inherited genetic mutations (BRCA1/BRCA2)

5️⃣ Estrogen hormone replacement therapy

Signs & Symptoms can be similar to other conditions and are often non-specific.

1️⃣ Abdominal or pelvic pain/tenderness and back pain

2️⃣ Abdominal swelling and bloating

3️⃣ Fatigue

4️⃣ Unexplained weight gain/loss

5️⃣ Changes in bowel function, constipation

6️⃣ Feeling full after a small amount of food

Evaluation

A physician may use some or all of these evaluation methods to diagnose ovarian cancers.

1️⃣ Physical exam

2️⃣ Imaging studies: ultrasound, CT scan, MRI

3️⃣ Blood work to include tumor markers

4️⃣ Surgical biopsy of tumor – fine needle biopsy

Treatment

A physician may use some or all of these methods to treat ovarian cancers.

1️⃣ Surgery: the physical removal of all visible tumors from the abdominal cavity

2️⃣ Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy for ovarian cancer may be administered intravenously (IV), directly into the abdomen known as intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy, or as a combination of both IV and IP delivery. It is generally a combination of drugs administered every three weeks for a total of six treatment cycles.

3️⃣ CRS/HIPEC: Emerging evidence supports the use of CRS/HIPEC as a treatment for ovarian cancers. Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) is the aggressive surgical removal or destruction of cancer. Following CRS, heated chemotherapy (HIPEC) is circulated directly into the abdominal cavity to kill any remaining microscopic cancer cells. HIPEC differs from IP chemotherapy because it is given once, during the surgical procedure versus repeated post-operative courses.

Prognosis largely depends on the stage at diagnosis and the amount of residual disease after surgery. Stage IV cancers are commonly only offered palliative treatment. However, recent studies have shown that meaningful survival, similar to stage III cancers, can be achieved with cytoreductive surgery and heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC). One study showed a 2-year overall survival of 83% in stage III patients and 76% in stage IV patients. Similarly, a landmark study from the Netherlands comparing survival outcomes between patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (cycles of chemotherapy that are given before surgery) followed by interval cytoreductive surgery with or without HIPEC showed significantly longer survival outcomes with HIPEC. The median overall survival was 33.9 vs 45.7 months in the non-HIPEC vs HIPEC groups, respectively. All patients in these studies had a complete cytoreduction, in which all visible disease was removed. Without a complete surgery, survival shortens to roughly 22 months. Despite this, optimal cytoreduction rates in the literature range between 20-80%, emphasizing the importance of finding an experienced surgical team.

Learn More about Ovarian Cancers

Arm yourself—and your loved ones—with the information that matters.

Even the most proactive patients and advocates can only act on what they know. Help us spread the word about ovarian cancers!

Thank You

Thanks for joining us on social media this month to learn more about ovarian cancers and help spread the word!