The primary critical issue addressed by the LHL Critical Issues Institute is the ongoing threat to thousands of women of dying and/or suffering from ovarian cancer, otherwise known as the “silent killer.” The goal is to provide reliable and timely information that may help women at risk to detect and treat the disease early enough to increase the chances of curing it and/or extending their lives. The Institute will also encourage and promote the research needed to develop reliable and affordable tests for early detection and treatment of the disease.
The focus on ovarian cancer is necessary because the statistics regarding ovarian cancer are not good. It is the leading cause of death from cancer of the female reproductive system. Reliable sources predict that one in every 60 women in the United States will develop ovarian cancer at some point in their lives. Each year over 22,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and about 15,000 will die from the disease. Approximately 220,000 women are currently undergoing painful debilitating treatment that for many will continue for years or end in an early death. Only about 20% will be diagnosed early enough to achieve a much too short five year survival rate.
Most women are at some risk. Although ovarian cancer is most frequently diagnosed in women over 50, it also affects younger women. Among women in the United States, ovarian cancer is the tenth most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death.