Women in rural and remote or socioeconomically disadvantaged areas of Australia have a 20% higher risk of dying from ovarian cancer than those in richer, urban areas, according to research published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
A team led by Dr Susan Jordan from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane analysed medical record information and follow-up data for the 1192 women who had been diagnosed with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) in Australia in 2005.
They found that the crude overall 5-year survival for women with EOC was just 35%, and for those who survived for 2 years after diagnosis, the probability of living a further 5 years was only 53%, "clearly reinforcing the need for prevention and better treatments".
Increasing age and disease stage (spread) at diagnosis had the strongest associations with poor survival, the researchers wrote.
"The rate of death of women with stage IV disease was 10 times that of women with stage I disease", they wrote.
Other factors, including socioeconomic disadvantage and regional or remote residence, type of ovarian cancer and co-existing disease were associated with a lower chance of survival to 5 years after diagnosis.
"Compared with women from relatively socioeconomically advantaged areas, women from relatively disadvantaged areas had a 21% higher risk of dying during [the period of] follow-up", the researchers wrote.
"A similar difference was seen for women living in regional - remote areas versus major cities.
"Possible explanations for socioeconomic and geographic differences in ovarian cancer survival include diagnostic delay and poorer access to recommended treatments.
"Further research is needed to determine the relative contribution of these factors.
"[Our findings] emphasise the need for primary and secondary prevention and better treatments for ovarian cancer to improve long-term outcomes."