Ovary removal proves beneficial for cancer-prone women
BRCA mutation carriers who opt for surgery survive longer than those forgoing the operation
By Nathan Seppa
Surgical removal of the ovaries lessens the risk of death in women carrying a BRCA mutation linked to breast and ovarian cancer, a new study shows. The research also indicates that women undergoing this operation or a mastectomy limit their risk of ovarian or breast cancer, bolstering previous findings that these operations offer long-term protection (SN: 5/25/02, p. 323). The new study appears in the Sept. 1 Journal of the American Medical Association.
“This is really the first study to show that these women live longer” if they get their ovaries taken out, says Virginia Kaklamani, a medical oncologist at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago.
The BRCA gene encodes a protein that protects against cancer. But women carrying a mutated form of the gene face a 50 to 80 percent lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and also have a heightened risk of ovarian cancer.