Conclusion

This disease profile reviews all of the latest data (up to 2017 diagnoses) on incidence, mortality, stage at diagnosis and survival of patients with ovary, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal carcinomas in England.

Main findings:

• the incidence rate of ovary, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal carcinomas in England has remained reasonably stable since 2001
• incidence and mortality rates vary among CCGs and Cancer Alliances, with variation beyond what might be expected by random chance, suggesting that there may be genuine differences between areas
• the proportions of patients diagnosed at early and late stages vary considerably around the country; some of this variability is likely due to data completeness but other factors should also be considered
• completeness of stage data varies by geography; there is some room for improvement which would lead to better data quality for reporting
• survival of patients with ovary, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal carcinomas has been improving since 2001. Improving one-year survival may reflect progress in diagnosing the disease sooner, with increased awareness of the symptoms amongst women and primary care practitioners, and improved diagnostic pathways, enabling more women to be diagnosed while still well enough to undergo treatment. Increased 5-year survival may reflect improvements in surgical and chemotherapy treatments. Assessment of geographic variation in survival rates may help to identify areas of best practice and improve the outlook for all patients

By using NCRAS data to analyse the full cohort of ovary, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal carcinomas and including or excluding borderline tumours as appropriate, we have been able to make clear comparisons between geographies and over time.

Building on this new understanding, the ovarian cancer audit feasibility pilot will work to gain further insight into the factors behind the observed geographic variation and into best practices in the diagnosis and treatment of ovary, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal carcinomas, aiming for improved outcomes for patients.

Reporting on data completeness back to clinical staff in the NHS via the CancerStats website is an ongoing part of the ovarian cancer audit feasibility pilot work. Improving the quality of data available to NCRAS about patient performance status, stage, residual disease and surgeon grade will enable further valuable analysis to be undertaken. Please note that the CancerStats platform requires an N3/HSCN secure network connection. To ensure the best user experience, we encourage the use of modern web browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge to access the platform. A small number of platform users have reported issues when opening reports using Internet Explorer.

Proposed further work for the ovarian cancer audit feasibility pilot includes study of variation in Routes to Diagnosis, treatment pathways, surgery and short-term mortality for patients with ovary, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal carcinomas with respect to geographies, age and other factors.