International Women’s Day: Balancing the scales for women with ovarian cancer
March 04, 2026
This International Women’s Day, the theme “balancing the scales” feels tailor made for ovarian cancer. For decades, women with this disease have lived with a stark imbalance: high mortality, low funding, late diagnoses and outcomes that trail many other cancers. Every day, women are in the thick of treatment, while others are working, parenting, living and loving with ovarian cancer – and organisations like the OCRF are working tirelessly for them, striving to rewrite the story.
When the odds aren’t in your favour
In Australia, ovarian cancer is the deadliest reproductive cancer. The average five‑year survival rate sits at around 49%, compared with about 92% for breast cancer, 96% for prostate cancer and 84% for uterine cancer. Put simply, a diagnosis of ovarian cancer means your chances of being alive in five years are almost half those of a woman diagnosed with breast cancer.
Timing plays a big part in this. With no early detection test, around two‑thirds of ovarian cancer cases are found at an advanced stage, when survival drops to around 29%. Many women experience vague symptoms for months – bloating, fatigue, changes in appetite – that can be brushed off as “just hormones”, stress or gut issues. By the time ovarian cancer is seriously considered, the disease has often spread and is much harder to treat.
The cost of not talking about women’s health
This is what happens when women’s health is treated as niche rather than non‑negotiable. Women’s health research has been chronically underfunded, and ovarian cancer is a clear example – one of the most lethal cancers, yet comparatively under‑resourced given its impact. Globally, gynaecological cancers receive less support than other cancers when you look at how many years of life they take away.
The consequences are personal and long‑term. Generations of women have grown up without the language or safety to talk openly about periods, pelvic pain, fertility or menopause – let alone possible cancer symptoms. Too many still walk into appointments trying hard not to seem “dramatic”, and leave with their concerns downplayed. Ovarian cancer is a stark illustration of where that hesitation, under‑investment and bias can lead.
Women with ovarian cancer: not just surviving
And yet, women with ovarian cancer are anything but passive in this story. Every day, women are managing surgery, chemotherapy, side‑effects, recurrence scans, careers, families and friendships – often while doing the emotional work of holding on to who they are beyond their diagnosis. Many become advocates and fundraisers, “Dr Google” myth‑busters and the friend who gently (or not so gently) insists you make that appointment.
Their stories fuel our determination – our investments in earlier diagnosis, better treatments and more awareness. Our partnerships with others to ensure more and fairer access to clinical trials, and help shape better standards of care. When we talk about balancing the scales, we are really talking about creating systems that rise to meet the reality of this situation: better tests, better treatments, better care, better odds. Balance.
Why ovarian cancer should never be an afterthought
Ovarian cancer holds up an uncomfortable mirror to how women’s health has often been handled: serious, life‑altering conditions sidelined as “women’s problems”; symptoms questioned instead of properly investigated; funding out of step with the need. It helps explain why so many women have had to fight to be listened to and believed – and why that fight isn’t over.
Balancing the scales is not about blame; it’s about building a new reality. It means backing research that finally reflects the true impact of ovarian cancer, making open conversations about women’s health feel normal, and making sure no woman has to second guess whether her pain is ‘worth mentioning’. At the OCRF, that commitment doesn’t start and end with International Women’s Day. It runs through every dollar raised, every project funded, every researcher supported, every story shared – every day of the year.
This International Women’s Day, we honour the women living with ovarian cancer, the people who love them, and everyone working to tip the scales towards earlier diagnosis, better treatments and longer lives. And we invite you to stand with them – because when we balance the scales for ovarian cancer, we move closer to a world where all women’s health is taken seriously, the very first time we speak up.
Donate today and help us balance the scales for women and girls with ovarian cancer, now and in the future.
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