Patient profile: Who are at risk the most of ovarian cancer?

Although younger women in their 30-40s do occasionally develop ovarian cancer the average age that women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the United States is 59. An expert on the matter, Dr. Matthew Boente MD notes that the symptoms of ovarian cancer are also shared by several other illnesses (GERD, IBSC, endometriosis) making it harder to make a prompt diagnosis. So persistent symptoms like bloating, heartburn, intermittent diarrhea, constipation, and mild to moderate abdominal ort pelvic discomfort would be the most common symptoms.
Image source: go4life.nia.nih.go

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Another risk factor is genetics. There’s a 10 – 15% chance that women with a family history of ovarian cancer could develop the disease later on in life. This also means that 80 – 85% of ovarian cancers are sporadic and are not inherited or passed on to other relatives.

Lastly, some lifestyle choices also affect the chances of getting ovarian cancer. According to Dr. Matthew Boente MD, studies have shown that certain lifestyle choices like having childbirth, breastfeeding, and taking birth control pills all reduce the risks of developing the disease. In fact studies have shown that high risk women (2> first degree relatives with ovarian cancer) who use oral contraceptives for 10 years or longer reduce their lifetime risk of acquiring ovarian cancer from 50% to 1% which is what the risk is to the general population.

Dr. Matthew Boente MD is an ovarian cancer expert who has served on the Ovarian Cancer Committee of the GOG for 5 yrs, the Corpus Committee of the GOG for 5 additonal years and on the National Comprehensive Cancer Center Network (NCCN) Cervix and endometrial cancer screening task force for two years. For more reads on the disease, visit this page.

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