Ovarian Cancer Risk Calculator
Use this ovarian cancer risk calculator to check your family history for inherited risk and, from age 50, estimate your 10 year risk.
Updated October 21, 2026
Medical Disclaimer: This calculator gives a general estimate for education only and cannot diagnose a condition. Share your result with your doctor or the clinician who ordered your test, and do not start, stop or change any medicine based on it. Read our full Medical Disclaimer.
How Ovarian Cancer Risk Is Calculated
Ovarian cancer risk is the chance that you will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer over a set period, such as the next 10 years. About 1.1% of women develop it at some point in life, or roughly 1 in 90². This calculator looks at risk in two ways: a family history check for inherited risk, and a model for women aged 50 and over based on reproductive and hormone history.
What Ovarian Cancer Risk Measures
The family history check looks for patterns that suggest an inherited gene change, such as in BRCA1 or BRCA2. It gives a yes or no answer on whether genetic counseling is recommended, not a percentage. The age 50 and over estimate is an average for women with answers like yours. It cannot tell whether you have cancer now.
The Formula
The risk estimate uses the National Cancer Institute model by Pfeiffer and colleagues, built from more than 199,000 women in two large US studies¹:
Relative risk = pill factor x children factor x hormone therapy factor x family history factor
Your yearly risk = average yearly rate for your age group x 0.57 x relative risk
(0.57 converts the average rate to the rate for a woman with none of the four risk factors)
10 year risk = yearly risks added up over 10 years, reduced for the chance of dying from other causes
The four factors are 1.36 if you used birth control pills for less than 1 year, 1.25 for each step down from 3 or more children (1 to 2, then 0), 1.26 for each step up in hormone therapy use (under 10 years, then 10 or more), and 1.27 for breast or ovarian cancer in a mother, sister or daughter¹. The family history check uses the 7-Question Family History Screening tool, where one "yes" counts as a positive result⁴.
How This Calculator Computes Your Result
Every user answers the seven family history questions, plus a few questions on Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, BRCA changes in relatives and your own cancer history. If you are 50 to 75, you also answer three health history questions, and the tool shows your 10 year risk as a percentage to two decimals and as "about 1 in" a number. Women aged 50 to 65 also see a 20 year risk. Each result is compared with the average woman your age in the model.
The tool does not give a percentage if you have had ovarian cancer, have had both ovaries removed, or have a known BRCA1 or BRCA2 change, because the model was not built for those groups.
What Your Result Means
Your estimate is shown next to the average for your age. The model's full range runs from about 0.6 to 2.4 times the average¹.
Age | Average 10 year risk | Lowest possible | Highest possible |
50 | 0.36% | 0.21% | 0.88% |
55 | 0.49% | 0.28% | 1.19% |
60 | 0.62% | 0.35% | 1.50% |
65 | 0.66% | 0.38% | 1.61% |
70 | 0.68% | 0.39% | 1.65% |
75 | 0.68% | 0.39% | 1.66% |
Results under 0.8 times the average are labeled "lower than average", 0.8 to 1.25 "about average", and over 1.25 "higher than average". Even the highest results stay under 2% over 10 years.
The family history result matters more than the percentage. A positive family history check is the trigger the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) uses: women with a positive result on a family risk tool should receive genetic counseling and, if it is indicated, genetic testing³. A low percentage does not cancel a positive family history check.
Why Family History Comes First
Inherited gene changes raise risk far more than any factor in the age 50 model. With a harmful BRCA1 change, lifetime ovarian cancer risk is about 39% to 58%, and with BRCA2 about 13% to 29%, compared with about 1.1% for women overall². BRCA changes are found in about 1 in 300 to 500 women³.
The USPSTF lists features that make a BRCA change more likely. These include breast cancer before 50, cancer in both breasts, breast and ovarian cancer in the same person, breast cancer in a man, several relatives with breast cancer, and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry³. In the study that built the seven questions, the tool picked up 97% of women with a high risk hereditary breast and ovarian cancer pattern⁴. Most women who screen positive turn out not to have a high-risk hereditary breast and ovarian cancer pattern on full review (only 8% did in that study), which is why counseling comes before any test⁴.
Why There Is No Routine Screening Test
The USPSTF recommends against ovarian cancer screening for women without symptoms who are not known to have a high risk inherited syndrome⁵. Three large trials found that yearly screening did not lower deaths from ovarian cancer⁵. This is why knowing your family history and your symptoms is useful.
Ovarian cancer symptoms are often vague. The most common are bloating, pelvic or belly pain, trouble eating or feeling full quickly, and needing to pee urgently or often⁶. The American Cancer Society advises seeing a doctor if these happen more than 12 times a month⁶.
10-Year Ovarian Cancer Risk by Age
The average risk at each age, with the lowest and highest results the model can give.
- Average 10 year risk
- Lowest to highest possible
Show data table
| Age | Average 10 year risk (%) | Lowest to highest possible (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 0.36 | 0.21–0.88 |
| 55 | 0.49 | 0.28–1.19 |
| 60 | 0.62 | 0.35–1.50 |
| 65 | 0.66 | 0.38–1.61 |
| 70 | 0.68 | 0.39–1.65 |
| 75 | 0.68 | 0.39–1.66 |
A Note on Accuracy
The age 50 model is well calibrated on average, but it separates women at higher and lower risk only weakly. In a test group of over 56,000 nurses, it predicted 406 cases against 377 seen, with a discrimination score (AUC) of 0.59, where 0.5 is chance¹. It was built in white non-Hispanic women aged 50 and over and may be less accurate for other groups. It leaves out BMI, tubal ligation and other factors. The family history check is a screening step, not a gene test.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average woman's risk of ovarian cancer?
About 1.1% of women, or roughly 1 in 90, will develop ovarian cancer in their lifetime². For a typical woman aged 50, the risk over the next 10 years is about 0.36%¹.
What increases your risk of ovarian cancer?
The biggest known factor is an inherited change in a gene such as BRCA1 or BRCA2². Smaller factors include having no children, little or no birth control pill use, longer hormone therapy, and a close relative with breast or ovarian cancer¹.
How accurate is an ovarian cancer risk calculator?
The model used here predicts the right number of cases across a group, but it is weak at telling individual women apart (AUC 0.59)¹. A positive family history check is the more useful signal, because it leads to genetic counseling³.
What are the warning signs of ovarian cancer?
The most common are bloating, pelvic or belly pain, feeling full quickly, and urgent or frequent peeing⁶. See a doctor if they happen more than 12 times a month⁶.
Sources
Risk Prediction for Breast, Endometrial, and Ovarian Cancer in White Women Aged 50 y or Older, Pfeiffer et al., 2013
BRCA Gene Changes: Cancer Risk and Genetic Testing, National Cancer Institute
BRCA-Related Cancer: Risk Assessment, Genetic Counseling, and Genetic Testing, US Preventive Services Task Force, 2019
A Simple Questionnaire for the Identification of Hereditary Breast Cancer in Primary Care, Ashton-Prolla et al., 2009
Ovarian Cancer: Screening, US Preventive Services Task Force, 2018
Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer, American Cancer Society