Women between the ages of 55 and 63 are most likely to get ovarian cancer. But it can happen in younger women, too. In its early stages, ovarian cancer may not cause symptoms you would notice.

Conversely, they found that the percentage of patients younger than 40 with stage IA or IC ovarian cancer who underwent surgery wavered greatly over time and did not demonstrate a clear trend.

"For her to find out that she actually had ovarian cancer, and by the time she found out, it was stage four," said Porter. "She found out around New Year's, and this was pretty recent." At such a ...