Ten years. Three cities. One shared ambition: a world where no woman is left behind.
As the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition marks its tenth anniversary with gatherings in Hong Kong, Montreal and Madrid, we celebrate a global community that has helped bring ovarian cancer out of the shadows and look ahead to what we must achieve together.
Over the past decade, we have amplified women’s voices, strengthened the evidence for change and connected advocates, clinicians, researchers and policymakers worldwide. But progress must accelerate: without urgent action, more than 7 million women are projected to die from ovarian cancer by 2050.
Our next decade must turn evidence into lasting change.
Hong Kong: the power of partnership
At the UICC World Cancer Congress, our anniversary activities showed how global ambition becomes local action.
Our first #WOCCat10 gathering brought patient advocacy organisations together to exchange experiences and practical solutions. From influencing reimbursement decisions to expanding access to testing and treatment, advocates demonstrated the power of a connected global community.
We also met colleagues from NICRAT, who are leading an ovarian cancer pilot across six Nigerian states. Informed by women’s experiences in the Every Woman Study™ LMIC Edition, the project addresses barriers to awareness, diagnosis, genetic testing and care.
This is what partnership makes possible: turning women’s experiences into evidence, and evidence into action.
Montreal: the people behind the progress
Alongside the International Gynecologic Cancer Society meeting, we celebrated the survivors, advocates, clinicians, researchers, member organisations and partners who made our first decade possible.
At Galerie Atelier Lucie Michel, established in memory of an artist who died from ovarian cancer, we honoured the people and stories behind the progress and the global movement they have built.
To mark our anniversary, we named a star in Cassiopeia Seren, our guiding star for the decade ahead. It honours the women we have lost, stands with those living with ovarian cancer, and reminds us why we must keep working towards a future where no woman is left behind.
Listening to women. Learning what must change.
Listening to women has shaped our first decade. It will shape our next.
In recent survivor workshops across four countries, women spoke about the challenges that remain despite advances in treatment: how diagnoses and test results are explained, the impact of early menopause and the fear of recurrence.
Their experiences are already informing the Every Woman Study 2027, which will build on our previous research to measure progress, expose persistent gaps and help drive change.
Madrid: shaping the next decade
On 23 October, alongside ESMO 2026, we bring these conversations to Madrid and invite you to be part of what comes next.
In A Decade of Evidence, Robin Cohen, WOCC Board Chair; Eva-Maria Strömsholm, Every Woman Study Oversight Committee Member; and Dr. Dilyara Kaidarova, Every Woman Study Lead, will explore what women’s experiences have taught us, what has changed and what the next study must reveal.
In Bending the Curve, Prof. Isabelle Ray-Coquard, Co-Chair of the Lancet Commission on Women’s Health and Cancer; Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram, from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC); and Dr. André Ilbawi, from the World Health Organization (WHO), will tackle a bigger question: what will it take to put ovarian cancer firmly on the global health agenda?
This is the ambition driving WOCC’s next chapter: stronger evidence, a united global community and a clear path towards saving more women’s lives.
Join us in Madrid. Be part of the conversation shaping the future of ovarian cancer.
