EPIDEMIOLOGY OF OVARIAN CANCER: AN UPDATED SYSTEMATIC REVIEW (2019-2021)

Background: Ovarian cancer (OC) is expected to cause 239,000 new cases and 152,000 deaths globally each year. Almost all benign and malignant ovarian tumors are caused by one of three types of cells: epithelial cells, stromal cells, or germ cells. The prevalence of OC varies significantly across the countries. Several risk factors have been associated with OC incidence. Among these risk factors are Family history, menarche and menopause age, pregnancy, lactation, obesity, and contraceptives use.

Aim: To assess the epidemiology of ovarian cancer in females, including risk factors, diagnosis, survival, racial differences and other characteristics.

Methods: Studies related to our subject were explored using PubMed and Google scholar databases during 2019 to 2021. The included searching keywords were “Ovarian cancer (OC), Epidemiology, Risk factors, OC diagnosis, OC survival, OC racial and ethnic characteristics" and were used in various combinations. The inclusion criteria were original studies reported ovarian cancer epidemiology conducted on females and full text- articles.

Results: A total of 125 articles were obtained, only eleven articles were eligible for the inclusion criteria. The involved studies were conducted on a total number of 62459 participants. Out of 11 studies included, 3 studies were published in 2019, 7 studies in 2020 and 1 study in 2021. Four studies were cross-sectional, six cohort studies and one study based on data from SEER program.

Conclusion: The average age of the OC patients in our sample was 52.5 years. Granulosa tumours and high-grade serous carcinoma were the most common histological characteristics of ovarian cancer. Non-Hispanic black women were shown to have a greater overall mortality risk than non-Hispanic white women. More research is needed to investigate the involvement of unknown risk factors in the development of ovarian cancer.

Keywords: Ovarian cancer (OC), Epidemiology, Risk factors, OC diagnosis, OC survival and OC racial and ethnic characteristics.