Women of all ages can get ovarian cancer, but most patients are aged 40 or over.

We don’t really know what causes this cancer. There is some evidence to suggest that the more eggs your ovaries produce during your life, the more likely you are to get it. It is a little more common, for example, in women who have never had children, or who have had a late menopause.

In some cases of ovarian cancer (fewer than one in 20) there is a family link.

If you have two or more first degree relatives (mother, daughter or sister) who have had ovarian cancer, you have a higher than average risk of getting the disease yourself. The risk increases if your relatives were diagnosed with their cancer before the age of 50. Some families seem to have a tendency to get not only ovarian cancer but also breast cancer.