Unfortunately, ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among American women. This is because the disease often progresses significantly before diagnosis, due to symptoms often being misidentified as digestive issues. Of the cases diagnosed in Missouri in 2019, eighty-one percent were diagnosed in the late stages when treatment options and survival rates are low. When diagnosed and treated before the cancer has spread outside the ovaries, the five-year survival rate is 92 percent, making early diagnosis imperative.
In order to develop reliable diagnostic tools, more effective treatments and eventually a cure, research is necessary. Each year since its inception in 2002 SLOCA has underwritten a grant through the Foundation for Women’s Cancer dedicated to funding critical ovarian cancer research as well as supporting research through the Siteman Cancer Center locally. To date, more than $540,000 has been invested in funding research thanks to your support.