MADISON, Wis. -- A new medical study could provide the answer to beating ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cancer diagnosed in women. The risk is about 1 in 67 in a woman's lifetime, and this year alone the American Cancer Society says 22,430 new cases will be diagnosed and 15,280 will die of the disease.

But a new study is fueling new hope that more lives can be saved by earlier detection and diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

"There is evidence that these symptoms are present earlier than we have thought," said Dr. A.C. Evans in the division of gynecological oncology at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.

Experts said the symptoms of ovarian cancer have traditionally been found much too late for most effective treatments, with less than 20 percent of cases found at stage one. Now, doctors said symptoms might be detected sooner.

Cancer experts said women who experience bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, feeling full quickly and frequent urination daily for two to three weeks should see a doctor.

"Most commonly these symptoms are associated with more benign processes and that's one of the reasons that these symptoms are not picked up on earlier," Evans said.

Many doctors have treated these symptoms with antacids or antibiotics, misdiagnosing cancer as indigestion or bladder infections, WISC-TV reported. Now it's expected that the medical community will pay more attention as well.

"I think it will lead to a lot more tests being done for patients having symptoms being considered earlier for possible ovarian cancer," Evans said.

The reason that doctors said this new advice is so important is that if caught at stage one, ovarian cancer has a more than 90 percent success rate of being treated. In stage three or four, the five-year survival rate is less than 50 percent.