ABSTRACT
Epithelial ovarian cancer is responsible for the majority of gynecologic cancer deaths, though it is only the second most common gynecologic neoplasm, accounting for approximately one-quarter of gynecologic cancer diagnoses.1,2 In 2003, the American Cancer Society estimated that 25 400 women would be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the USA, and that 14 300 would die of their disease.3 A woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is about 1 in 70. Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the USA, following cancer of the lung, breast, colon and pancreas.3 Most women are diagnosed in advanced stages and eventually die of progressive, chemotherapy-resistant disease. Overall 5-year survival is approximately 53%.3
