Incidence and survival of epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, peritoneal, and undesignated abdominal/pelvic cancers in Sweden 1960–2014: A population-based cohort study

Background Despite improved surgical and oncological treatment, ovarian cancer continues to be the most lethal of the gynecologic malignancies. We aimed to analyze survival trends in epithelial ovarian cancer with regard to age, tumor site, and morphology in Sweden 1960 to 2014. Methods A nationwide population-based study was conducted using data from the Swedish Cancer Registry on 46,350 women aged 18 or older with a diagnosis of epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, peritoneal, or undesignated abdominal/pelvic cancer 1960 to 2014. Analyses of age-standardized incidence and relative survival (RS) were performed and time trends modelled according to age, tumor site, and morphology. Results Overall incidence of ovarian, tubal, peritoneal, and undesignated abdominal/pelvic cancers declined since 1980. Median age at diagnosis increased. Serous carcinoma increased in incidence. RS at 1, 2 and 5 years from diagnosis improved since 1960, although not for the youngest and the oldest patients. Ten-year RS did not improve. The best RS was found for fallopian tube cancer and the worst RS for undesignated abdominal/pelvic cancer. Among the morphologic subgroups, endometrioid carcinoma had the best RS. Conclusions Survival in epithelial ovarian, tubal, peritoneal, and undesignated abdominal/pelvic cancers in Sweden has improved over the last six decades. Advances in epithelial ovarian cancer treatment have extended life for the first 5 years from diagnosis but 10-year survival remains poor.