March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In this blog post, information development nurse Hilary looks at risk-reducing treatment for women who have a high risk of ovarian cancer.
Most ovarian cancers are not caused by inherited genes, and most women who get ovarian cancer don’t have a family history of it. But some women have a high risk of developing this type of cancer because:
What happens if I have a high risk of ovarian cancer?
Women with a high risk can have surgery to remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes. This is a very effective way of reducing your ovarian cancer risk, but it has some disadvantages. If you haven’t reached the menopause, removing the ovaries will cause infertility and menopause. These may be serious issues for you, especially if you still want to have children.
What if I decide I’m not ready for surgery?
Some women decide they’d rather live with the risk of cancer than face the impact of surgery. But the risk is significant. Ovarian cancer can be effectively treated if it’s caught early. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have tests that are good at finding very early (and curable) ovarian cancers. By the time symptoms appear, an ovarian cancer may be quite advanced and more difficult to treat successfully.
Recent research into screening
The UK Familial Ovarian Cancer Screening Study is researching other options for women who decide to put off having surgery. This study has been using regular blood tests and scans to screen women for early signs cancer might be developing. If the screening tests showed a possibility of ovarian cancer, women were then offered further tests and surgery.
Was screening effective and safe?
The study published some results in February. These suggest that the screening does help find ovarian cancers at an early stage when they are smaller. Treatment is likely to be more effective and less extensive than for a larger, more advanced cancer.
But the study is ongoing and there are still questions to answer. For example, screening finds cancers earlier, but does it also improve the long-term survival for women with a high risk?
For women with a high risk of ovarian cancer, screening seems to be better than symptom awareness alone at finding early cancers. But it’s important to remember that screening doesn’t prevent ovarian cancer. For women in this high-risk group, surgery is still the best way to reduce the chances of developing cancer in the first place.
I’ve got more questions
We have lots more information on our website about:
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