Ovarian cancer at the Ontario Cancer Foundation Clinics, 1938-1958

In Ontario, ovarian cancer causes 7% of female cancer deaths, exceeding cancer of the uterine cervix or corpus in women aged 50 years and over. For 1722 patients with ovarian cancer registered at the Ontario Cancer Foundation Clinics in 1938-1958, who received some or all of their treatment at the clinics or were untreated anywhere, the crude survival rate at five years was 28%. Survival was greatly influenced by extent of disease and by histological type; survival rates remained constant or rose slightly over successive periods although an increasing proportion of advanced cases were registered. The method of choice for initial treatment was panhysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and radiotherapy. Agreement on classification by histological type and extent is urgently needed.