The Risk Factor for Ovarian Cancer

Knowing the risk factors for ovarian cancer can keep you one step ahead. Knowing what is and isn’t linked to ovarian cancer help put us at ease because the unknown is always the scary. Researchers have discovered certain factors that change a woman’s likelihood of developing ovarian cancer. Read about some of the risk factors below.

Age

The risk of developing ovarian cancer gets higher with age. Ovarian cancer is rare in women younger than 40. Most ovarian cancers develop after menopause. Half of all ovarian cancers are found in women 63 years of age or older.

Obesity

Various studies have looked at the relationship of obesity and ovarian cancer. Overall, it seems that obese women (those with a body mass index of at least 30) have a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer.

Reproductive history

Women who have been pregnant and carried it to term have a lower risk of ovarian cancer than women who have not. The risk goes down with each full-term pregnancy. Breastfeeding may lower the risk even further.

Birth control

Women who have used oral contraceptives (also known as birth control pills or the pill) have a lower risk of ovarian cancer. The lower risk is seen after only 3 to 6 months of using the pill, and the risk is lower the longer the pills are used. This lower risk continues for many years after the pill is stopped.

A recent study found that the women who used depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA or Depo-Provera CI^®), an injectable hormonal contraceptive had a lower risk of ovarian cancer. The risk was even lower if the women had used it for 3 or more years.

Gynecologic surgery

Tubal ligation (having your tubes tied) may reduce the chance of developing ovarian cancer by up to two-thirds. A hysterectomy (removing the uterus without removing the ovaries) also seems to reduce the risk of getting ovarian cancer by about one-third.

Fertility drugs

In some studies, researchers have found that using the fertility drug clomiphene citrate (Clomid^®) for longer than one year may increase the risk for developing ovarian tumors. The risk seemed to be highest in women who did not get pregnant while on this drug. Fertility drugs seem to increase the risk of the type of ovarian tumors known as "low malignant potential" (described in the section, "What is ovarian cancer?"). If you are taking fertility drugs, you should discuss the potential risks with your doctor. However, women who are infertile may be at higher risk (compared to fertile women) even if they don’t use fertility drugs. This might be in part because they haven't given birth or used birth control pills (which are protective). More research to clarify these relationships is now underway.

Estrogen therapy and hormone therapy

Some recent studies suggest women using estrogens after menopause have an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. The risk seems to be higher in women taking estrogen alone (without progesterone) for many years (at least 5 or 10). The increased risk is less certain for women taking both estrogen and progesterone.

Unfortunately risk factors don’t tell us everything we need to know about diseases. And having one even several risk factors does not automatically mean you’ll get the disease. To learn about more risk factors follow the link to read the full article from American Cancer Society:  http://bit.ly/1r9S8d3

Dogs Can Be Woman’s Best Friend, Too!

Dogs are more than just man’s best friend- now, they can be woman’s best friend, too. According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, dogs can be taught to sniff out ovarian cancer. An article at ChicagoNow explains:

“Dr. Cynthia Otto at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center says the exquisite ability of a dog's nose may help to refine current technology regarding detection of ovarian cancer. This is integrative medicine at its best, human physicians working with veterinarians. And it's plausible, not science fiction or ideas of "crazy dog people."

Ovarian cancer accounts for around three percent of all cancers in women, and mainly develops in older women aged over 63. According to the American Cancer Society, 22,240 women in the US will receive a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer this year, and 14,230 women will die from the disease.”

Ovarian cancer is notable for being challenging to detect, and has been called “the silent killer.” Could dogs provide a new method of diagnosing ovarian cancer in women?

Click here to read the entire article at ChicagoNow.

Cancer Survivor Story: Jan Pederson and the Strength of Family

Ovarian cancer has affected so many lives, both those women who have been diagnosed with the disease as well as all of their families, friends, and even passing acquaintances. Though there are many thousands of stories to tell, today we’re focusing on just one: Jan Pederson, an ovarian cancer survivor of more than 10 years who shared her remarkable story of strength with cancercenter.com.

In her testimonial, Jan recounts that she first suspected ovarian cancer based on the advice of a gym friend, who listened to her symptoms and told her to schedule a doctor’s appointment as soon as possible. Her friend’s instincts were spot on: Jan had stage III ovarian cancer. “After that phone call,” jan writes, “I felt devastated and wanted to see Bruce, who was at the gym. My emotions were all over the place and I was thinking, ‘No, it can't be cancer.’ I drove to the gym and told Bruce and our friends the news from the doctor. They were also shocked and devastated and we all prayed right there. Bruce and I went home, fell into each other's arms, and just cried. Our love for each other was stronger than ever before. He stood by me the whole way.”

She says her hope was lifted when she found the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), which “have a team of professionals who cover every aspect of the body, mind and spirit. They treat the whole person. That was what I was looking for—a team of doctors who would work together for me, and give me hope, encouragement and strength.”

She continues:

“When I walked into CTCA at Midwestern Regional Medical Center, I knew I was in the right place. My first meeting with Dr. Sybilann Williams, who is not only a skilled gynecologic oncologist but a wonderful person, gave me her undivided attention when she spoke to me. She gave me options. I was part of the decision making and I wasn’t being treated as a number or a statistic. Dr. Williams never talked about death. She talked about fighting and winning. Those words gave me the hope I was looking for in an oncologist.”

Read the rest of her story at cancercenter.com.

Not a Walk in the Park: Son Plans Ambitious Hike to Honor Mother, Raise Funds for Ovarian Cancer Research

Ovarian cancer is a brutal disease. Just this year, it is estimated that ovarian cancer has already claimed more than 14,000 lives. 64-year-old Karen Orofino of Mill Valley, California was one of those deaths. Her son, John “Woody” Orofino, however, is determined that she will not be forgotten. In an article from Healthline News, contributor Shawn Radcliffe writes that Orofino is planning to embark on a 22-day hike on the John Muir Trail in California both to honor his mother’s memory and to raise money for the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) medical center, where his mother received her cancer treatments. He will average more than 10 miles per day and anticipates large elevation changes and several nights spent at over 10,000 feet.

Though he comes from a very athletic family, Orofino knows that a hike of this magnitude is something different. But he has been preparing diligently, and backpacking is a recent passion of his. It was a love that he shared with his mother, who started hiking later in life.

He commented, “I personally came to really love backpacking, and really love being in the outdoors, just over the past four to five years. I’ve always loved nature, but prior to this, my longest time ... in the wilderness was about three days. This is definitely a very large undertaking, but it’s one that I’m confident I can accomplish, and I’m definitely very passionate about the cause.”

Orofino’s fundraising goal is $50,000, all of which will go to the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, specifically earmarked for ovarian cancer research.

Dr. Lee-may Chen, a gynecologic cancer surgeon at UCSF Medical Center, commented, “To be able to see him channel his energy into doing something that’s going to really help improve awareness for ovarian cancer was so impressive. We’re touched that he wants to help make a contribution to us because I think we have a lot of work to do, and we need support to be able to do that type of work.”

Read the full article at Healthline.com.  

Danbury Researchers Identify Markers in Treating Ovarian Cancer

Researchers may be one step closer to finding a cure for ovarian cancer! Researchers at the Danbury Hospital Biomedical Research Institute recently discovered two proteins as markers of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. Read more about the exciting discovery in the article below:

Researchers from the Danbury Hospital Biomedical Research Institute have discovered that high expression levels of two proteins - HGF and c-MET - are present in women with ovarian cancer who did not benefit from undergoing tumor-shrinking chemotherapy prior to having surgery to remove their tumor.

Marisa Mariani, PhD, of Danbury Hospital Biomedical Research Institute, and colleagues, who published their results in OncoTarget, made this discovery using a two-pronged approach that first explored possible markers of chemotherapy resistance at the microRNA and gene expression level, and then validated any markers of interest at the protein level. 

"This approach is important because if you are eventually going to use a drug to target these markers, the drug will target the protein and not the gene," Dr. Mariani said. "We had to confirm that what we were seeing at the gene level lead to a change at the protein level."

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death for gynecologic malignancies. About 85 percent of women who are diagnosed in the advanced stage of the disease will die. Women with advanced disease may sometimes undergo chemotherapy prior to surgery, called neoadjuvant chemotherapy, in an attempt to shrink the tumor.

Exposing the tumor to chemotherapy prior to surgery gave Dr. Mariani and colleagues a unique opportunity to investigate the biology of the tumor's response to chemotherapy. Using tumor samples taken from patients with ovarian cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, they discovered several prevalent microRNAs, the presence of which demonstrated an ability to survive even after exposure to chemotherapy. Among the discovered microRNA miR-193a-5p was the most significant.

MicroRNA regulates the expression of genes. Therefore, the researchers next conducted an analysis to determine the targets of miR-193a-5p and found that two genes, HGF and cMET, were significantly correlated with the microRNA.

Finally, the researchers used quantitative fluorescent immunohistochemistry to conduct a protein analysis. Once again they found that protein expression levels of HGF and cMET expression were significantly increased in patients after undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In fact, patients who relapsed shortly after neoadjuvant chemotherapy had the highest levels of HGF and cMET and those patients who responded best to the treatment had the lowest expression levels.

"This type of discovery is very important because if patients undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the treatment has no effect, then it is often too late to perform surgery because the cancer has progressed," said senior author Cristiano Ferlini, MD, PhD, also from Danbury Hospital Biomedical Research Institute. "This can help us to know upfront that these patients may not benefit from neoadjuvant therapy and can prevent them from undergoing this unnecessary treatment."

According to Dr. Ferlini, the Danbury Hospital Biomedical Research Institute will continue to embrace cutting-edge technology, working to uncover biomarkers that will help clinicians to more appropriately select therapies for patients with cancer.

"Even though we are a small organization we have been very successful operating at the border between clinical and basic research," Dr. Ferlini said. "We are motivated to learn from our patients at the bedside and get back to the bedside as quickly as possible with new treatment options."

Click the link to read the full article from Danbury Patch: http://aol.it/1s85B4Q

Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore is Raising the Heat on Ovarian Cancer

A lot of doctors get fired up over ovarian cancer treatment, but the oncologists at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore are taking it to a whole new level. According to a recent news article from 8-News Now in Las Vegas, these doctors are using a new and aggressive treatment called HIPEC, an abbreviation for hyperthermic interperitoneal chemotherapy, in which doctors first remove all traces of the tumor along with several other organs, if necessary. Then a catheter is inserted which delivers heated chemotherapy. The function of the heat is two-fold: it kills cancer cells but also enhances the effects of chemotherapy. The chemo temperature of the chemo reaches about 109 degrees Fahrenheit and circulates in the patient for 90 minutes. HIPEC is being studied as a first-line therapy for ovarian cancer patients in a phase-two trial. Of the new treatment, Dr. Teresa Diaz-Montes, Gynecologic Oncologist at Mercy Medical Center, said, “We are trying to see if we can be more proactive in preventing more women from recurring.”

The article also explains how HIPEC is different from other forms of ovarian cancer treatment: “Systemic chemotherapy delivery circulates throughout the body. The HIPEC treatment is different because it delivers to cancer cells in the abdomen. This allows for higher doses of chemotherapy. The heat can also improve how the tumors absorb the drugs. It can destroy microscopic cancer cells that remain in the abdomen after surgery.”

Chief of Surgical Oncology Dr. Armando Sardi recently used this new approach on Helen Szablya, who was diagnosed with cancer five years ago. Her tumor was so big that doctors couldn’t even see her ovaries. Her particular type of cancer (primary peritoneal carcinoma, which is very similar to epithelial ovarian cancer) was so serious that Szablya and her husband, Charles Dann, weren’t sure they’d make it to their 20th wedding anniversary.

Szablya received HIPEC from Dr. Sardi and has been cancer-free for five years. “It saves your life!” she said of the treatment. Her husband added, “It’s really quite amazing to understand what Helen has gone through and what amazing odds she’s overcome.”

Read the full story from 8-News Now KLAS-TV Las Vegas.

Know Your Options

If you find out you have the BRCA gene, do not think that surgery is your only option.  There are many ways to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.  Research has found that breast feeding, birth control pills, and having fallopian tubes tied all may help reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.  Learn more in the article below and always remember to talk with your doctor before making any decisions.  You can learn more here.

Breast-feeding, birth control pills and having fallopian tubes tied may help reduce ovarian cancer risk in women with BRCA gene mutations, a new review suggests.

Women with BRCA gene mutations are at increased risk for breast and ovarian cancers. These findings suggest ways that women with these inherited mutations can reduce their ovarian cancer risk without having their ovaries surgically removed, the University of Pennsylvania researchers said.

“Patients deserve better cancer-risk reduction options than surgically removing their healthy breasts and ovaries,” review co-author Dr. Susan Domchek, executive director of the Basser Research Center for BRCA at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, said in a university news release.

Domchek and her colleagues reviewed 44 studies and found that breast-feeding and tubal ligation were associated with lower rates of ovarian cancer in women with a BRCA1 mutation, while the use of birth control pills was associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer in women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.

The researchers also identified factors that may increase the risk of cancer in women with BRCA mutations. For example, smoking may heighten the risk of breast cancer in women with a BRCA 2 mutation.

The findings are to be published in the June issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

“Our analysis reveals that heredity is not destiny, and that working with their physicians and counselors, women with BRCA mutations can take proactive steps that may reduce their risk of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer,” lead author Timothy Rebbeck, professor of epidemiology and cancer epidemiology and risk reduction program leader at the Abramson Cancer Center, said in the news release.

“The results of the analysis show that there is already sufficient information indicating how some variables might affect the risk of cancer for these patients,” he added.

About 39 percent of women with a harmful BRCA1 mutation and up to 17 percent of those with a harmful BRCA2 mutation will develop ovarian cancer by age 70, compared with 1.4 percent of women in the general population.

Between 55 percent and 65 percent of women with a harmful BRCA1 mutation and 45 percent of women with a harmful BRCA2 mutation will develop breast cancer by age 70, compared with about 12 percent of women in the general population.

Both BRCA mutations have also been linked with increased risk for several other types of cancer, according to the researchers.

“It’s imperative that we continue examining and building upon past research in this area so that we can provide BRCA mutation carriers with options at every age, and at every stage of their lives,” Domchek noted.