Ovary Removal Lowers Odds of Cancer in High-...(an cancer ranges from 36 percent to 46 p...),Health

Women with these gene mutations usually are counseled to help them choose strategies to reduce the risk, which might include removing the ovaries or breasts, as well as screening and other prevention techniques.

But even removal of the ovaries cannot guarantee that a woman will never get ovarian cancer, Rebbeck said. Sometimes, for instance, ovarian cells get left behind in the surgery, he explained.

Dr. Jeffrey N. Weitzel, chief of the division of clinical cancer genetics at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif., said pooling the results of 10 studies provided "enough [statistical] power to have a strong observation of a beneficial effect for BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers."

By combining studies, "we get greater confidence there is a high likelihood this is a real effect," he said.

But in reality, a woman undergoing preventive removal of the ovaries today would probably have "closer to a 90 percent" reduction in ovarian cancer risk, Weitzel estimated. That's because, he said, the surgery that's done now is more thorough than it was in years past.

For women who are BRCA1 or BRCA2 carriers, preventive ovary removal is often recommended at age 35 or after completion of childbearing, Rebbeck said. Another way to reduce risk would be for a woman to go on oral contraceptives in her 20s, before childbearing, he said.

More information

To learn more about the risk factors for ovarian cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

SOURCES: Timothy Rebbeck, Ph.D., professor, epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia; Jeffrey N.
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