Global advisory group formed to tackle ovarian cancer

CANADA – The World Ovarian Cancer Coalition has launched a major new effort to make ovarian cancer a top global health priority on World Ovarian Cancer Day (#WOCD2025).

The coalition announced the creation of the Global Expert Advisory Group on Ovarian Cancer, an international team of advocates, doctors, and policymakers from 13 countries across six continents, who will work together to shape a worldwide strategy to improve survival and care.

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest cancer affecting women, with no effective screening test and often vague symptoms that lead to delayed diagnosis.

The burden is especially heavy in low- and middle-income countries, where access to timely diagnosis and treatment is limited.

Without urgent action, experts warn that up to 8 million women could die from ovarian cancer by 2050.

The new advisory group aims to tackle these challenges head-on by focusing on three urgent goals: increasing public and policymaker awareness, improving early diagnosis, and ensuring access to services and treatment for women at high genetic risk.

The group will also push for a global target to reduce ovarian cancer deaths, much like the International Breast Cancer Initiative.

This move builds on the Coalition’s recent research, including the Every Woman Study: Low- and Middle-Income Edition, and its global report on the socioeconomic burden of ovarian cancer.

These studies showed shockingly low awareness of the disease, limited understanding of genetic risks like BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, and the heavy toll the disease takes on families and healthcare systems.

The advisory group is co-chaired by Annwen Jones OBE, former chair of the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition, and Associate Professor Tracey Adams, a gynecological oncologist from South Africa.

According to them, solving this issue requires global teamwork and clear action plans that work at the national level.

The Coalition itself is the only global non-profit focused solely on ovarian cancer, uniting more than 200 advocacy groups in 37 countries.