Key findings from the National Ovarian Cancer Audit 2025
The second National Ovarian Cancer Audit (NOCA) report, the State of the Nation Report 2025, takes an in-depth look at how ovarian cancer care was delivered to women in England in 2022 and in Wales in 2022-2023. The audit provides crucial insights into treatment patterns, survival rates, and areas where improvements are still needed.
Read the key findings from 2025's report
What is the National Ovarian Cancer Audit?
The NOCA report looks at how well women with ovarian cancer are being cared for across England and Wales. It tracks things like:
- How and when patients are diagnosed
- What treatments they receive
- How many women survive at least one and two years after diagnosis.
This is the second State of the Nation report, and a new report will be published each year. The goal is to find out where care can be improved to give women the best chance of survival and track changes year-on-year.
Ovarian Cancer Action's role in the audit
Ovarian Cancer Action campaigned for nearly a decade to secure this audit, working alongside supporters, Target Ovarian Cancer, and the British Gynaecological Cancer Society to push the government into funding a national picture of ovarian cancer care. Read more about how we made the National Ovarian Cancer Audit happen.
Key findings from the report
Emergency admissions
Emergency admissions are when a patient had an emergency admission within 28 days before diagnosis.
- England: 40% of women with ovarian cancer.
- Wales: 41% of women with ovarian cancer.
What this means: Women diagnosed through emergencies are four times more likely to die within two months than those diagnosed through planned pathways, because their symptoms have become very severe, indicating that the cancer has spread. This highlights the ongoing need for better symptom awareness and quicker access to healthcare to ensure the earliest diagnosis possible.
New this year, the audit also looked at what happens next for these women:
- England: only 61% of women who had an emergency admission before diagnosis went on to receive any treatment within three months.
- Wales: 71% of women went on to receive treatment.
What this means: Four out of ten women in England, and three out of ten in Wales, who are admitted as an emergency do not have any treatment recorded within three months of diagnosis. This has been raised as a major concern, and a nationwide Quality Improvement Initiative is being launched to help improve treatment rates for these women.
Treatment gaps
- England: 26% of women with advanced ovarian cancer (stage 2-4 ) did not have any treatment (surgery or chemotherapy) recorded.
- Wales: 20% of women faced the same treatment gap.
What this means: Not all women are receiving the necessary treatment, which severely impacts survival. Most worryingly this varies a lot by geography. In some Centres this number is much lower, with only 12% not receiving any treatment, but this rises to an alarming 38% of patients not receiving any treatment in the worst performing Centre. Urgent action is needed to understand why some women are not receiving any treatment.
Use of platinum-based chemotherapy
- England: 34% of women with advanced ovarian cancer did not receive platinum-based chemotherapy, the standard treatment.
- Wales: No data available
What this means: Platinum-based chemotherapy is crucial for treating ovarian cancer, and this gap shows some women are not be receiving optimal care. There is an alarming postcode lottery, where the number of women not receiving chemotherapy ranges from 16% to 55% around the country.
One-year survival rates
- England: 70% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer survived at least one year after diagnosis.
- Wales: 74% of women survived at least one year after diagnosis.
What this means: While these figures are a small improvement on last year's report, the UK still lags behind countries like Australia and Norway, where one-year survival rates are higher. There is also wide variation across the country, with survival rates ranging from 58% to 87%. This indicates a continued need for improvements in care.
Two-year survival rates (new this year)
For the first time, the audit has also reported on survival at two years after diagnosis.
- England: 58% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer survived at least two years after diagnosis.
- Wales: 68% of women survived at least two years after diagnosis.
What this means: Just over half of women in England, and two in three in Wales, are still alive two years on from their diagnosis. This new indicator gives a fuller picture of longer-term survival, and has confirmed that considerable variation remains between hospitals even once differences between patients are taken into account – ranging from 80% two year survival at the highest performing Centres to 45% at the lowest.
What will Ovarian Cancer Action do with these findings?
Over the coming months, we will be reviewing these findings in more detail. We will use them to inform the next stages of our strategy to make care equal across the UK.
Frequently asked questions
What is the National Ovarian Cancer Audit (NOCA)?
NOCA is a comprehensive audit of the care received by women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in England and Wales. The audit aims to track treatment patterns, survival rates, and identify areas for improvement in ovarian cancer care. The 2025 report focuses on women diagnosed in 2022 (England) and 2022-2023 (Wales).
Why are emergency admissions a concern for ovarian cancer?
Around 40% of women with ovarian cancer in England and Wales are diagnosed after an emergency admission. This often means the cancer is more advanced, leading to poorer outcomes. Women diagnosed this way are four times more likely to die within two months compared to those diagnosed through planned referrals. This year's audit also found that a large proportion of these women don't go on to receive treatment within three months of diagnosis.
What are the main treatments for ovarian cancer?
The main treatments include surgery and chemotherapy. However, around 26% of women in England and 20% in Wales did not have any treatment recorded, which may affect their chances of survival.
What is platinum-based chemotherapy, and why is it important?
Platinum-based chemotherapy is a treatment that uses drugs containing platinum to damage cancer cells' DNA. It's an essential treatment for advanced ovarian cancer, but 34% of women in England did not receive it, suggesting some may not be getting the most effective care.
How does ovarian cancer survival in the UK compare to other countries?
70% of women in England and 74% in Wales survived at least one year after diagnosis, and 58% and 68% respectively survived at least two years. Survival rates still lag behind other countries like Australia and Norway. This suggests there is room to improve the quality of ovarian cancer care in the UK.
How can I help raise awareness about ovarian cancer?
You can help by sharing information about ovarian cancer symptoms, supporting early diagnosis campaigns, and getting involved in fundraising activities. Educating yourself and others about the signs of ovarian cancer could help save lives.
What are the symptoms of ovarian cancer?
Common ovarian cancer symptoms include persistent bloating, feeling full quickly when eating, stomach or pelvic pain, and needing to urinate more often or urgently. If these symptoms persist, it's important to see a doctor.
