Chemoprevention of hereditary ovarian cancer

Article Abstract:

Physicians may want to prescribe oral contraceptives for women who have a family history of ovarian cancer. Hereditary ovarian cancer is often linked to gene mutations called BRCA1 and BRCA2. Studies have already shown that oral contraceptives can lower the risk of spontaneous ovarian cancer and a 1998 study showed that this was also true in women with a hereditary risk of ovarian cancer. The risk of ovarian cancer in oral contraceptive users was about half that in women who did not use oral contraceptives. However, surgery to remove the ovaries is even more effective in preventing hereditary ovarian cancer.

Editorial

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Risk factors for familial and sporadic ovarian cancer among French Canadians: a case-control study

Article Abstract:

The risk factors for hereditary ovarian cancer appear to be similar to those for spontaneous ovarian cancer. This means that many women with a family history of ovarian cancer could lower their risk. Researchers analyzed risk factors in 170 women with ovarian cancer and 170 healthy women. The women with ovarian cancer were considered to have hereditary cancer if they had three or more cases of the disease in their family. The most important factors were family history, contraceptive use and age at last childbirth. These factors were common to hereditary and spontaneous cancer cases.

Risk factors

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Oral contraceptives and the risk of hereditary ovarian cancer

Article Abstract:

Women with the gene mutations BRCA1 or BRCA2 who take oral contraceptives may have a lower risk of ovarian cancer. These mutations have been linked to hereditary breast cancer but they are also linked to hereditary ovarian cancer. Researchers analyzed the rate of ovarian cancer in 207 women with hereditary ovarian cancer and 161 of their healthy sisters. Women who used oral contraceptives had half the risk of developing ovarian cancer and this was true even in women with either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.

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