Blog

At a Glance

• Ovarian cancer is diagnosed in thousands of women in the U.S. each year.
• About 21,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2026.
• About 12,450 women are expected to die from the disease this year.
• The current five-year relative survival rate is 52%.
• Survival statistics are based on large groups and cannot predict what will happen to an individual person.

Psst… Check Out Childhood Grief: What Every Parent Should Know About

As an adult, a lot of my friendships blossomed through my kids, either moms of their friends or moms I’ve met at school and activities. And my very best friends, I found at work. I’m lucky.

Many years ago, when I worked at another publication, I met two women who became lifelong friends. Through thick and thin, ups and downs, madness and frustration, we got through it– together. Whenever we could, the three of us would meet for lunch at Lord & Taylor’s Sarabeth’s. We’d sit over Waldorf salads and creamy cappuccinos, catching up on our jobs, our families, and whatever else was happening in our lives, which was always a lot.

It was our thing, and L&T was our place.

Even after one of us left the company, and then another, we still made a point of meeting there whenever we could. We did it for years.

There’s one lunch in particular that I think about often around this time of year.

By then, one of the three of us had moved to the West Coast, so it was just the two of us meeting for lunch that day. As soon as we sat down, before we even ordered a drink, she said she had something to tell me: she had just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

It was stage 4.

I don’t think I fully understood what she was saying at first. I was stunned, and my brain was malfunctioning. While I was in shock, my friend was all business; she is New York tough.

She told me she was going to do the treatments. She was going to fight this and beat it.

Hours later, on my way home, I got off the subway two stops past where I was supposed to because I was still trying to process what I’d just heard.

That lunch was 10 years ago.

And she’s still here.

Over the years, she’s faced more than one cancer diagnosis. She has battled breast cancer, went into remission for breast and ovarian, and then had to face them both again. Through it all, I’ve watched her continue to fight, and I still don’t know how she does it. She is the epitome of never give up.

Of course, her story is one reason ovarian cancer awareness is so personal to me, and it also made me realize there is so much to understand about a cancer that affects thousands of women every year yet gets very little attention. Doctors say women who don’t have kids are more prone to it, but having a child doesn’t protect you from it either. My friend is a mom.

Ovarian Cancer by the Numbers

According to the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, an estimated 21,010 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the United States in 2026. An estimated 12,450 women will die from the disease this year. Ovarian cancer accounts for about 1% of all new cancer cases and 2% of all cancer deaths.

The current five-year relative survival rate for ovarian cancer is 52%, based on SEER data from 2016–2022.

Those numbers are important, but they don’t tell us what will happen to any one woman.

The National Cancer Institute notes that survival statistics are based on large groups of people and cannot predict exactly what will happen to an individual patient. Every person is different, and treatment and response to treatment vary.

My friend’s life is a good reminder of that.

While stage 4 was terrifying to hear, that number was never the whole story, certainly not to her. She was still the same person, making work and treatment plans at the same time, planning her family trips in between chemo sessions, and even making it out to our lunches whenever she could.

Ovarian Cancer Awareness: Behind Every Statistic Is a Person

Ovarian cancer isn’t something most of us expect to hear about when we think about our own health or the health of the women we love. But awareness can give women a reason to pay closer attention to their bodies and to have conversations with their doctors when something doesn’t feel right. My friend’s only symptom was a slight lump near her clavicle, which she showed her doctor, who investigated further.

The NCI estimates that about 1.1% of women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer at some point during their lifetime. In 2023, an estimated 254,621 women in the United States were living with ovarian cancer.

Like any stats for diseases, they aren’t just numbers. They’re mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, partners, friends, and coworkers. And sometimes, they’re your very good friend sitting across the table from you at lunch in your favorite place.

Of course, her story isn’t a guarantee about what will happen to another woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer because every case is so individual, but I hope her story serves as a reminder that a diagnosis, even a terribly scary one, is never the entire story.

Psst… Check Out How to Find the Right OB-GYN or Midwife for You