Risk and Protective Factors

Risk Factors^{1 2 3}

• Older age (60 and older).
• Family health history of breast, ovarian, colorectal, or other cancer.
• Carries a BRCA1 (BReast CAncer susceptibility gene) mutation (lifetime risk of up to 40%).
• Carries a BRCA2 gene mutation (lifetime risk of 11% to 17%).
• Lynch syndrome.
• Infertility.
• Endometriosis.

Protective Factors^{1 2 3}

• Oral contraceptives (more than 10 years of use reduces risk by 50%). Reduced risk is found in women taking oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) for contraceptive purposes. OCPs increase risk for breast and cervical cancer.
• Breastfeeding (20% reduction for each year).
• Parity (25% reduction for first birth, 20% for subsequent births).
• Salpingo-oophorectomy (more than 90% reduction).
• Tubal ligation (20% to 50% reduction).

References

¹CDC. Ovarian cancer.

²DeVita VT Jr, Lawrence TS, Rosenberg SA, DePinho RA, and Weinberg RA. Devita, Hellman, and Rosenberg’s Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology (8th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2008.

³Schottenfeld D, Fraumeni J Jr. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention (3rd ed.). Eastbourne, UK; WB Saunders Co., 1982.