The number of women dying from ovarian cancer in England has fallen by 20% over the last decade.
A report compiled by the National Cancer Intelligence Network shows that the rates of women dying from ovarian cancer in England have fallen from 11.2 women per 100,000 (3,820 cases) in 2001, to 8.8 per 100,000 (3,453 cases) in 2010, representing a fall of 20% over the decade.
Around 7,000 cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed every year in the UK and it is the fifth most common cancer in women.
Chris Carrigan, Head of the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) said:
"As ovarian cancer can be very hard to diagnose and treat, this report was important to help us learn as much as we can about the numbers of women who develop the disease, how many survive and how many die."
The report also shows that the proportion of women surviving the disease for at least a year has gone up from 57 to 73%, and the proportion surviving for more than 5 years has risen from 33 to 44%.
The author, Dr Andy Nordin, Gynaecological Oncologist at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, states that the fall in deaths could be due to improved methods of detection and treatment of ovarian cancer.
