Cancer occurs when normal body cells get out of control, multiply and spread. These cells clump together to form a cancerous or malignant tumour which can then grow and damage healthy parts of the body.

There are different types of ovarian cancer. More than eight out of 10 patients have epithelial cancer of the ovary. It starts on the surface (epithelium) of the ovary.

The other, rarer, types of ovarian cancer are germ cell tumours and stromal tumours. Germ cell tumours start in the eggs stored in the ovaries. Stromal tumours start in the supporting tissue inside the ovaries.

The information in this section is about epithelial cancer of the ovary