Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in women.1 It most often affects postmenopausal women.
Women who have family members with ovarian cancer—especially first-degree relatives such as a mother, sister, or daughter—who have had ovarian cancer have a higher risk of getting it themselves.2
Women who are of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry or Icelandic ethnicity may have an increased risk because of changes to the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. Women with this ancestry have higher rates of these gene changes.3
Women who have had breast cancer have twice the risk of developing ovarian cancer compared to women who have not had breast cancer.3 Women who have a history of breast cancer in their family also have an increased risk for ovarian cancer.
References
Citations
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (2007). Ovarian cancer. Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology, version 1. Available online: http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/PDF/ovarian.pdf.
Ozols RF, et al. (2005). Epithelial ovarian cancer. In WJ Hoskins et al., eds., Principles and Practice of Gynecologic Oncology, 4th ed., chap. 25, pp. 895–987. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Berek JS (2002). Ovarian cancer. In JS Berek, ed., Novak's Gynecology, 13th ed., pp. 1245–1319. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Credits
| Author | Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH |
| Editor | Kathleen M. Ariss, MS |
| Associate Editor | Pat Truman |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Ross Berkowitz, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| Last Updated | July 10, 2007 |
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