Myriad Genetics Blog Myriad Genetics Blog > September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month September 21, 2012 Ovarian Cancer More than 20,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, and approximately 15,000 women die from the disease each year. Since there is no early detection test, most cases are diagnosed in later stages when prognosis is poor. When ovarian cancer is found early at a localized stage, prognosis is good for the majority of patients. Do you have a family history of ovarian cancer? Most cancer occurs by chance. This is often called sporadic cancer. In some families, we see more cancer than we would expect to by chance alone. Determining which of these families have cancer related to an inherited gene mutation is important, as the cancer risks in hereditary cancer families are much higher than the general population. Talk with your healthcare professional about hereditary cancer risk assessment and testing. For more information, click here -Sarah Watts, Oncology Marketing