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nature outlook article

OUTLOOK 15 December 2021

Ovarian cancer
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Survival rates might still be relatively low, but researchers are making valuable inroads
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into understanding the disease.
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Illustration by Antoine Dore
lethality to develop cancer therapies

No cancer is desirable, but a glance at the statistics is enough to suggest that a diagnosis of
ovarian cancer is particularly unfortunate. Last year, an estimated 314,000 people worldwide
Subjects
developed ovarian cancer. Within the next five years, around half of them will die. By Cancer Health care Therapeutics
comparison, around 90% of people with breast cancer will survive for at least five years after
diagnosis.

Such a poor rate of survival creates a compelling case for

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substantial investment in ovarian cancer research, but the Sign up to Nature Briefing
disease has been somewhat overlooked. Between 2007 and An essential round-up of science news,
2014, the US National Cancer Institute provided around 19 times opinion and analysis, delivered to your inbox
more funding for breast cancer research than it did for the study every weekday.
of ovarian cancer, as judged by the ratio of ‘funding to lethality’.
But, with the burden of the disease only expected to rise, it is Email address
fortunate that advances in understanding ovarian cancer have e.g. jo.smith@university.ac.uk
begun to yield improvements in care.
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development of PARP inhibitors — a class of drugs whose use is
Ovarian cancer
steadily expanding. Similarly, the realization that many cases of
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ovarian cancer arise in the fallopian tubes is driving trials of
preventive surgeries. Efforts to tackle the emergence of tumours that resist the standard
platinum-based chemotherapy could also help to improve the prospects of someone with the
disease. And momentum is building behind calls to address disparities in ovarian cancer care
between Black and white women.

One thing that could make a big difference to the disease’s low survival rate is reliable early
diagnosis. Sadly, this is proving difficult. Earlier this year, a 20-year trial of ovarian cancer
screening proved the screening was unable to reduce mortality. Now, the hunt is on for new
markers of ovarian cancer — leading some researchers to investigate what part vaginal
microbes might play. For the moment, the most effective predictive tool remains a person’s
genetic make-up; certain mutations can considerably increase a person’s risk of ovarian
cancer. However, genetic testing does not always provide people with the clear path forwards
that they might have hoped for.

We are pleased to acknowledge the financial support of GlaxoSmithKline in producing this

Outlook. As always, Nature retains sole responsibility for all editorial content.

Nature 600, S35 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03713-x

This article is part of Nature Outlook: Ovarian cancer, an editorially independent supplement
produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.

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Nature (Nature) ISSN 1476-4687 (online) ISSN 0028-0836 (print)

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