Dramatic reductions in death rates of women from ovarian cancer still leave a lot to be done, experts warned today.
Figures published today show that death rates from the disease have fallen by more than a fifth in just ten years.
Experts said long-term use of the contraceptive pill by many women may have played a key role.
The biggest improvement in survival has been among middle-aged women, aged from 40 to 69, according to the National Cancer Intelligence Network.
Since the mid 1980s, the proportion of women surviving the disease for at least year since diagnosis has increased from 57% to 73%, the figures show.
In 2001 there were 3,820 deaths while in 2010 there were 3,453 cases, the network reports. This represented a change from 11.2 cases for every 100,000 women to 8.8 cases.
The analysis also highlights the survival chances of different age groups. Under the age of 40, some 84% survived for at least five years while over the age of 85 just 14% lived this long.
Researcher Dr Andy Nordin, a gynaecological oncologist at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, said the findings were "very encouraging", especially as the disease is "notoriously" difficult to treat.
He said: "This drop in deaths may reflect improvements in detecting and treating the disease, such as improvements in scanning, surgery and chemotherapy treatments.
"Additionally, over the past decade, ovarian cancer patients throughout the UK have experienced better management due to organisation of ovarian cancer care in specialist gynaecological cancer centres, planning of care by teams of cancer experts and specialist surgery by specially trained and accredited gynaecological oncologists.”
Hazel Nunn, of Cancer Research UK, said increased use of the contraceptive pill might have helped.
She said: "It’s encouraging to see that the number of women dying from ovarian cancer is falling, especially as ovarian cancer can be difficult to diagnose and treat."
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