What Every Woman Should Know...

(thanks to the people at Johns Hopkins Pathology)

What every woman should know...Ovarian cancer is a serious and under-recognized threat to women's health.

• Ovarian cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States.
  
• Ovarian cancer occurs in 1 in 57 women, up from 1 in 70 several years ago.
  
• Deaths from ovarian have risen. 2004 statistics released from the American Cancer Society show that ovarian cancer deaths have risen by close to 20% over 2003 statistics.
  
• More than 16,000 women will die this year alone and more than 25,500 will be diagnosed.

Ovarian cancer is very treatable when caught early; the vast majority of cases are not diagnosed until too late.

• When ovarian cancer is caught before it has spread outside the ovaries, 90+% will survive 5 years.
  
• Only 24% of ovarian cancer is caught early.
  
• When diagnosed after the disease has spread the chance of five-year survival drops to less than 25%.