Risk factors are what doctors call things that increase your chance of getting a disease.

Most women who get ovarian cancer don't have any risk factors.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Whittemore AS, Harris R, Itnyre J
Characteristics relating to ovarian cancer risk: collaborative analysis of 12 US case-control studies. II. Invasive epithelial ovarian cancers in white women. Collaborative Ovarian Cancer Group.

 

 

 

 

 

¹

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Yancik R.
Ovarian cancer: age contrasts in incidence, histology, disease stage at diagnosis, and mortality.
Cancer. 1993; 71: 517-523.

 

 

 

 

 

²

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Adami HO, Hsieh CC, Lambe M, et al.
Parity, age at first childbirth, and risk of ovarian cancer.
Lancet. 1994; 44: 1250-1254.

 

 

 

 

 

³

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Rossing MA, Daling JR, Weiss NS, et al.
Ovarian tumors in a cohort of infertile women.
New England Journal of Medicine. 1994; 331: 771-776.

 

 

 

 

 

⁴

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Venn A, Watson L, Bruinsma F, et al.
Risk of cancer after use of fertility drugs with in-vitro fertilisation [comment].
Lancet. 1999; 354: 1586-1590.

 

 

 

 

 

⁵ And even if you have a risk factor for this cancer, it doesn't mean you'll get it for sure. Most people with risk factors don't get ovarian cancer.

Here's what we know about factors that affect your risk of ovarian cancer. Some of them increase your risk, while others decrease it.

Having someone in your family who's had ovarian cancer is the strongest risk factor.

For more information about what you can do if ovarian cancer runs in your family, see Ovarian cancer and your family.

Getting older increases your risk. Most women who get ovarian cancer are older than 50, but younger women can get it, too.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ovarian cancer: reducing the burden.
2003. Available at http://www.cdc.gov (accessed on 25 July 2007).

 

 

 

 

 

⁸

If you've never had children or been pregnant, you're more likely to get ovarian cancer. Your risk of getting it is about 1 in 50.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Weiss NL, Cook LS, Farrow DC, et al.
Ovarian cancer.
In: Shottenfeld D,Fraumeni JF (editors). 2nd edition. Cancer prevention and epidemiology and prevention. Oxford University Press, New York; 1996.

 

 

 

 

 

⁹ Breaks from your

 

 

 

 

 

menstrual cycle
A woman's periods are part of her menstrual cycle. This is the regular monthly pattern of events that causes an egg to be released from the ovaries so a woman can get pregnant and causes the bleeding that happens if she does not get pregnant.

 

 

 

 

 

menstrual cycle seem to protect you, but we don't know why.

If you've had breast cancer or colon cancer, or cancer of the uterus (womb) or rectum, you may be more likely to get ovarian cancer.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
National Cancer Institute.
What you need to know about ovarian cancer.
Available at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/ovary/page4 (last accessed on 18 November 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

¹⁰

Doctors aren't sure if taking fertility drugs to help you get pregnant affects your chance of getting ovarian cancer. Some studies say that it increases your risk, but others say that it doesn't.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Whittemore AS, Harris R, Itnyre J
Characteristics relating to ovarian cancer risk: collaborative analysis of 12 US case-control studies. II. Invasive epithelial ovarian cancers in white women. Collaborative Ovarian Cancer Group.

 

 

 

 

 

¹

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Venn A, Watson L, Bruinsma F, et al.
Risk of cancer after use of fertility drugs with in-vitro fertilisation [comment].
Lancet. 1999; 354: 1586-1590.

 

 

 

 

 

⁵ If you're taking these drugs and you're worried, talk to your doctor.

It's not clear whether using talcum powder around your genitals increases your risk of ovarian cancer. There's some evidence that it might, but we need more research to say for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Booth M, Beral V, Smith P.
Risk factors for ovarian cancer: a case-control study.
British Journal of Cancer. 1989; 60: 592-598.

 

 

 

 

 

¹¹

The more children you have, the less likely you are to get ovarian cancer.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
National Cancer Institute.
What you need to know about ovarian cancer.
Available at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/ovary/page4 (last accessed on 18 November 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

¹⁰ Breaks from your

 

 

 

 

 

menstrual cycle
A woman's periods are part of her menstrual cycle. This is the regular monthly pattern of events that causes an egg to be released from the ovaries so a woman can get pregnant and causes the bleeding that happens if she does not get pregnant.

 

 

 

 

 

menstrual cycle seem to protect you, but we don't know why. Your cycle also often stops when you breastfeed, so the longer you do this, the less likely you are to get ovarian cancer.

If you take birth control pills, you're less likely to get ovarian cancer. All the research is on older types of pills, which had more of the

 

 

 

 

 

hormones
Hormones are chemicals that are made in certain parts of the body. They travel through the bloodstream and have an effect on other parts of the body. For example, the female sex hormone estrogen is made in a woman's ovaries. Estrogen has many different effects on a woman's body. It makes the breasts grow at puberty and helps control periods. It is also needed to get pregnant.

 

 

 

 

 

hormone estrogen in them. But it's probably also true of birth control pills used today, which have much less estrogen in them.

Taking the pill for five years cuts your chance of getting ovarian cancer by about half.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Booth M, Beral V, Smith P.
Risk factors for ovarian cancer: a case-control study.
British Journal of Cancer. 1989; 60: 592-598.

 

 

 

 

 

¹¹

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Whittemore AS, Harris R, Itnyre J.
Characteristics relating to ovarian cancer risk: collaborative analysis of 12 US case-control studies. II. Invasive epithelial ovarian cancers in white women. Collaborative Ovarian Cancer Group.
American Journal of Epidemiology. 1992; 136:1184-1203.

 

 

 

 

 

¹²

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Banks E, Beral V, Reeves G.
The epidemiology of epithelial ovarian cancer: a review.
International Journal of Gynecological Cancer. 1997; 7: 425-438.

 

 

 

 

 

¹³

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Mant JWF, Vessey MP.
Ovarian and endometrial cancers.
In: Doll R, Fraumeni JF Jr, Muir CS (editors). Trends in cancer incidence and mortality. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Plainview, NY; 1994: 287-307.

 

 

 

 

 

¹⁴ But if you take the pill for longer than five years, your risk won't continue to get lower. So whether you take it for five years or 10 years, you have the same protection.

If you have a hysterectomy (an operation to remove your womb), your ovaries may be taken out at the same time. You can also have an operation to take out just your ovaries.

Having your ovaries taken out greatly reduces your chance of getting ovarian cancer.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Kennedy RD, Quinn JE, Johnston PG, et al.
BRCA1: mechanisms of inactivation and implications for management of patients.
Lancet. 2002; 360: 1007-1014.

 

 

 

 

 

¹⁵ But removing your ovaries doesn't take away all the risk of getting this type of cancer. This is because there may be some cells left behind after surgery. These cells could turn into cancer in the place where your ovaries used to be. They could also spread to other areas. But the chance of these things happening is very small.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Kennedy RD, Quinn JE, Johnston PG, et al.
BRCA1: mechanisms of inactivation and implications for management of patients.
Lancet. 2002; 360: 1007-1014.

 

 

 

 

 

¹⁵

If you have your ovaries taken out, there are some things you should know.

If you're thinking about this surgery because ovarian cancer runs in your family, see Ovarian cancer and your family.

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