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OVARIAN CANCER
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Using data from the CTS and two other cohort studies, researchers examined the relationship between the relation between parity (having biological children), oral contraceptive use, and ovarian cancer risk. This 2016 study found that as women got older the protective effect of parity on ovarian cancer risk waned, particularly among women aged 75 or older. Read more here.
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Clinical genetic testing is commercially available for Rs61764370, an inherited variant residing in a KRAS 3' UTR microRNA binding site, based on the suggested association between Rs61764370 and increased ovarian and breast cancer risk. However, using data polled from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium, the Breast Cancer Association Consortium, and the Consortium of Modifiers of BRCA1 and BRCA2, this 2016 study suggested that Rs61764370 was not associated with risk of ovarian cancer, breast cancer, or with clinical outcome for patients with these cancers. Read more here.
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Using data from the Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium (OC3), this 2022 study evaluated the relationship between frequent use of aspirin and risk of ovarian cancer. For this project, frequent aspirin use was defined as using aspirin 6 or more days per week. The researchers found that frequent aspirin use was associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer. Read more here.
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A study of CTS participants found that abdominal adiposity (excessive fat around the stomach and abdomen) and weight gain – but not overall obesity – appeared to increase participants’ risk of ovarian cancer. Read more here.
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A 2008 study examined the association between five dietary patterns—plant-based, high-protein/high-fat, high-carbohydrate, ethnic, and salad-and-wine—and risk of ovarian cancer in the CTS. While CTS participants who ate a plant-based diet had a slightly higher risk of ovarian cancer in this study, the findings overall did not suggest there is an association between dietary pattern and ovarian cancer risk for this population. Read more here.
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A 2007 study found that CTS participants who consumed more than 3 mg a day of isoflavones—plant compounds such as soy that are capable of excreting estrogen-like effects—had a lower risk of ovarian cancer than participants who consumed less than 1 mg of total isoflavones a day. Read more here.
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Among CTS participants, the amount of alcohol participants consumed in the year before they joined the study, or between ages 18 – 22 and ages 30 – 35, was not associated with their risk of developing ovarian cancer. Read more here.
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Ovarian cancer subtypes have different risk factors. A 2018 study examined various subtypes and whether risk factors affected tumor aggressiveness. A first/single pregnancy was associated with a lower risk of highly aggressive disease compared with nulliparity (never having completed a pregnancy beyond 20 weeks), but no association was observed for subsequent pregnancies. For less aggressive disease, first and subsequent pregnancies were both associated with lower risk. Family history of ovarian cancer was only associated with the risk of less aggressive disease, while current smoking was found to be associated with increased risk of highly aggressive disease. Results were similar within the ranges of tissue types affected. Read more here.
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A 2016 genome-wide association study tested whether breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, which are all hormone-related cancers, had a shared genetic basis. This study found seven new cross-cancer loci: three loci associated with susceptibility to all three cancers, two loci associated with breast and ovarian cancer risk, and two loci associated with breast and prostate cancer risk. Read more here.
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Researchers examined risk factors of ovarian cancer along with specific ovarian cancer subtypes. Higher parity (number of pregnancies) was strongly associated with decreased risk of endometrioid and clear cell carcinoma. Younger age at menopause, never having had endometriosis, and tubal ligation were associated with decreased endometrioid and clear cell tumor risk. Family history of breast cancer only had modest variation among subtypes. Smoking was associated with an increased risk of mucinous but decreased risk of clear cell tumors. Read more here.
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A 2018 study suggested that daily aspirin use was associated with a 10% lower risk of developing ovarian cancer. Read more here.
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Researchers examined the relationship between lifetime ovulatory cycles and its components and ovarian cancer risk overall and by histotype. This analysis found that risk of most ovarian cancer types doubles as the number of lifetime ovulatory cycles increases from approximately 300 to 500. Read more here.