Risk of Ovarian Cancer: Women Would Benefit From Preemptive Surgery, May Actually Extend Lifespan

The Journal of Medical Genetics concluded their research published online that women with high risk of ovarian cancer should actually consider getting preemptive ovarian cancer surgery. The surgery has become very cost effective and helps compensate for the current lack of a reliable test to screen for the disease. The process also is suggested to help prolong life in high risk women.

The preemptive surgery is the removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes of women in their 40s which is the current threshold for the operation. Ovarian cancer kills more than 150,000 women every year worldwide and has been the leading cause of cancer in women, Medical Xpress reports.

Since preemptive surgery removes ovaries and fallopian tubes, women have a better chance of survival by having 71% to 96% cancer reduction risk, decreasing the mortality rate and help ensure longer life compared to women who underwent the process after diagnosis. Ovarian cancer patients can mostly survive more than five years after being diagnosed, as per CNN.

Women with the strongest risk factors are of older age and has a family historyof the disease; mother, sister or child carrying the risk genes, for instance. Breast cancer genes or BRCA genes can also be accountable for overall ovarian cancers of about 15 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Actress Angelina Jolie took pre-emptive surgery known as salpingo-oophorectomy last year which is in line with the research of cutting cancer risk. Ovarian cancer affects women of all ages, but it is commonly diagnosed after menopause.

Of course, all surgeries may have some setbacks. Such may vary depending on the perspective and choice of a woman whether to undergo the process no matter how safe and life-preserving it is. The reproductive eggs in the ovaries secrete estrogen and progesterone hormones so younger women who would undergo the preemptive operation will have an early menopause. Other complications may include chances of developing heart disease, risk of osteoporosis as she ages because of estrogen's absence, which helps build bones and most often sexual dysfunction.