Women at high risk for ovarian cancer still have some risk after surgery

When a woman learns that she’s at high risk for developing ovarian cancer – a silent killer because symptoms are rarely noticed in the early stages – she has some decisions to make. One of those decisions is to have a preventative surgery, removing the fallopian tubes and ovaries, called a salpingo-oophorectomy.

For those who decide to go ahead with the surgery, the hope is to eliminate the risk of ovarian cancer altogether. New research has shown, however, that some women still may develop ovarian cancer because when the fallopian tubes and ovaries are removed, there is the potential that some of the tissue is missed and left behind. If this happens, these bits of tissue are still at risk for becoming cancerous.

That being said – having the surgery does lower the risks of developing ovarian cancer significantly. The same research, which was a review of several studies done on this issue, found that it lowers the risk of ovarian cancer by 80% and of breast cancer by 50%.

You can read more about the study’s findings in this article, Ovarian surgery doesn’t end all cancer risk: study.

If you were told that you were at risk for ovarian cancer, would you consider removing your ovaries? I think I would. Of course, I’ve had my children so it’s a much easier decision for me than it would be a much younger woman.

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Tags: cancer blog, ovarian cancer, removing ovaries, removing ovaries and fallopian tubes, high risk of ovarian cancer