[From a long article on killer cancers...]

   9. OVARIAN CANCER

   * DEATH RATE THEN: 4.8 NOW: 4.5

    CAUSE. Unknown. Advancing age is one risk factor; incidence is highest among
women 60 and over. Women who have never had children are twice as likely to
develop the disease.


    This type of cancer can run in families. When gene BRCA1 or BRCA2 is
mutated, it makes women more susceptible.

    A high-fat diet also may be a culprit.

 ...

    PREVENTIVE MEASURES. Use of oral contraceptives lessens the chance of
ovarian cancer by 40 to 50 percent.

    Risk is also lower in women who have children,  breast-feed  or get a tubal
ligation or hysterectomy.
                   U.S. News & World Report, February 5, 1996


Arly Helm                                       [log in to unmask]
(MS, Nutrition & Food Sciences, CLE, IBCLC; LC for IHC)