Additional Risk Factor Information

A risk factor is anything that changes your chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. For example, unprotected exposure to strong sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer. Smoking is a risk factor for a number of cancers.

But risk factors don't tell us everything. Having a risk factor, or even several risk factors, does not mean that you will get the disease. And many people who get the disease may not have had any known risk factors. Even if a person with ovarian cancer has a risk factor, it is very hard to know how much that risk factor may have contributed to the cancer. Researchers have discovered several specific factors that change a woman's likelihood of developing epithelial ovarian cancer. These risk factors do not apply to other less common types of ovarian cancer such as germ cell tumors and stromal tumors.

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 over the age of 63.

Reproductive History

A woman who has had children has a lower risk of ovarian cancer than women who have no children. The risk gets even lower with each pregnancy. Breastfeeding may lower the risk even further. Using oral contraceptives (also known as birth control pills or "the pill") also lowers the risk of ovarian cancer.

Gynecologic Surgery

Tubal ligation (having your "tubes tied") may reduce the chance of developing ovarian cancer by up to 67%. A hysterectomy (removal of the uterus without removing the ovaries) also seems to reduce the risk of getting ovarian cancer by about one-third.

Personal History of Breast Cancer

If you have had breast cancer, you may also have an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. There are several reasons for this. Some of the reproductive risk factors for ovarian cancer may also affect breast cancer risk. The risk of ovarian cancer after breast cancer is highest in those women with a family history of breast cancer. A family history of breast cancer may be caused by an inherited mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. These mutations can also cause ovarian cancer.