Guide To The Causes And Risk Factors For Ovarian Cancer

Older Age

A woman past her fifth decade of life is at an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. Older age is a risk factor that can be applied to most forms of cancer simply because the chances of a spontaneous mutation in an individual's cellular DNA that triggers carcinogenesis is higher. The chance of carcinogenesis-inducing DNA mutations increases every time a cell in the body divides, or every time the DNA of a cell is repaired. Most diagnosed cases of ovarian cancer occur in women who have already gone through the hormonal stage of menopause. More than half of all the diagnosed cases of ovarian cancer develop in women over sixty-five years old. Younger women can develop ovarian cancer, but it is uncommon compared to the prevalence in older age groups. Most women who have not gone through menopause due to being younger who are affected by ovarian cancer have a predisposition to malignancy through a family history of ovarian cancer or breast cancer.

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Hormone Replacement Therapy

There is a forty percent increase in the risk of developing ovarian cancer in a patient who uses hormone replacement therapy than one who does not. Hormone replacement therapy that only contains estrogen increases a woman's risk of ovarian cancer just as much as hormone replacement therapy containing both estrogen and progesterone. The highest risk of ovarian cancer in post-menopausal women who utilize hormone replacement therapy is when they undergo this therapy for long periods, such as five or ten consecutive years. The longer a post-menopausal woman uses hormone replacement therapy continuously, the greater their risk becomes of developing breast or ovarian cancer. When a post-menopausal woman stops using hormone replacement therapy entirely, their risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer decreases slowly over several years. The exact rate of risk decrease depends on how long the patient used hormone replacement therapy.

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