Stage 1: Cancer is found in one or both ovaries:

• Stage 1A: Cancer is found inside a single ovary.
• Stage 1B: Cancer is found inside both ovaries.
• Stage 1C: Cancer is in one or both ovaries or fallopian tubes, and either the tumor lining is disrupted during surgery (1C1); or cancer is found on the outer surface of ovary or fallopian tube, (1C2); or cancer is found in fluid (a condition called ascites) or washings from the abdomen or pelvis (1C3).

17% of all cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed at Stage 1.

Stage 1 Prognosis & Survival Rates

Most women with Stage 1 ovarian cancer have an excellent prognosis. Stage 1 ovarian cancer is considered to be localized, and patients have a 5-year survival of 93%. Survival rates are often based on studies of large numbers of people, but they can’t predict what will happen in any particular person’s case. Other factors impact a woman’s prognosis, including her general health, the grade of the cancer, and how well the cancer responds to treatment.

Stage 1 Treatment

Generally, women with Stage 1 ovarian cancer have a total abdominal hysterectomy, removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes (called a salpingo-oopherectomy), an omentectomy (removal of the omentum, a sheet of fat that covers some abdominal organs), biopsy of lymph nodes and other tissues in the pelvis and abdomen. Depending on the pathology, in many cases women of childbearing age who wish to preserve their fertility and whose disease is confined to one ovary may be treated by a unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy without a hysterectomy. (Omentectomy and the other parts of the staging procedure are still performed.) Depending on the pathologist’s interpretation of the tissue removed, there may be no further treatment if the cancer is low-grade. If the tumor is high-grade the patient will likely receive combination chemotherapy.

Sources: NIH, Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance & American Cancer Society