Ovarian cancer risk factors
In this article
What's the lowdown?
Ovarian cancer risk increases with age, particularly after 45, but having a family history of cancer or inherited faulty genes like BRCA1, BRCA2 or Lynch syndrome can also raise your risk
HRT only very slightly increases your risk of getting ovarian cancer, just 4% of ovarian cancers are linked to using HRT
Taking the combined contraceptive pill and having children are known to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer
If you’re concerned about your risk, talk to your GP about genetic testing, especially if ovarian cancer runs in your family
What is ovarian cancer?
Ovarian cancer happens when abnormal cells in the ovaries start growing uncontrollably. It’s the sixth most common cancer in people with ovaries and often begins in the ovaries or fallopian tubes.1
What are symptoms of ovarian cancer?
Symptoms of ovarian cancer can vary greatly so we wrote a whole different article on it!
What does “risk factor” mean?
A risk factor is anything that increases your chances of developing a disease, like cancer. It could be something you can change, like smoking, or something you can’t control, like your age or family history. Having one or more risk factors doesn’t mean you’ll definitely get cancer, but it does raise the likelihood, so it’s good to know what they are and how they might affect you.
What are the risk factors for ovarian cancer?
The main risk factors for ovarian cancer are:2
- Getting older – the same with most cancers. This is the main risk factor for ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer and age are linked closely and the risk of ovarian cancer greatly increases after 45.
- Family history of cancer, especially ovarian cancer.3
- If you or a close relative has had breast cancer before, you may have a higher risk, likely due to faulty genes.
- Inherited faulty genes – the most common faulty genes that increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer are called BRCA1 and BRCA2. You may have heard of them in relation to breast cancer -Angelina Jolie famously had both breasts and ovaries removed to reduce her risk because she carries a faulty BRCA1 gene
- Lynch syndrome (an inherited condition caused by faulty genes that raises the risk of various cancers, including womb, ovary, stomach, and skin cancer).4
- Smoking – smoking increases your risk of multiple cancers.
- Asbestos contact – a material made up of tiny fibres that was used in older buildings.
- Using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after the menopause – increases your risk very slightly – for for most people, the benefit of HRT outweighs this small risk.
- Being overweight or obese – carrying excess fat increases your risk for multiple cancers including ovarian.
- Some medical conditions like endometriosis and diabetes.
HRT and ovarian cancer
Hormone therapy and ovarian cancer are linked. Hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, can be prescribed to treat perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms. The ovaries, when releasing eggs, produce the hormones that control our monthly cycles. One of these hormones is oestrogen. Without oestrogen you can experience the undesirable symptoms of menopause, including one of the most commonly reported symptoms on the Lowdown, mental fatigue. To help prevent these symptoms you can take HRT.
Although HRT slightly increases your risk of ovarian cancer, the increase is minor (only 4 in 100 cases of ovarian cancer are linked to HRT in the UK).2 HRT can have multiple benefits that may outweigh this risk for you, talk to your GP about HRT and your personal situation. You can even check out reviews for HRT at the Lowdown and share your own experience with HRT too! It may also be worth noting that HRT doesn’t increase your risk of other cancers such as melanoma (skin), lung and colorectal cancers.5
How can you prevent ovarian cancer?
Unfortunately, there’s no clear way to prevent ovarian cancer from developing. However, we can lower our risk of it developing. Ways to lower your risk of getting ovarian cancer includes reducing your risk factors, such as stopping smoking if you currently smoke and keeping a healthy weight.
Some factors may reduce your risk of getting ovarian cancer, these are called protective factors. Some of these include:2
- The contraceptive pill and ovarian cancer. Taking the combined oral contraceptive pill at some point in your life – research has shown that taking the pill can reduce your risk of ovarian cancer and for up to ten years after you stop taking it.5 Interested in trying the contraceptive pill? Have a read of reviews on the Lowdown.
- Having children and breastfeeding. While you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, you’re not releasing eggs (ovulating). The less your ovaries work (ovulate), the less chance of ovarian cancer
- Hysterectomy and ovarian cancer. Having a hysterectomy (womb and potentially other female reproductive organs removed) or getting your tubes tied/blocked/sealed – research showed that women who had their womb removed reduced their risk of ovarian cancer3,7,8, recently though, another study has stated hysterectomies have no effect on the risk of ovarian cancer9. If you’re considering sterilisation, check out the reviews. Something to note having a hysterectomy doesn’t make you immune to ovarian cancer so still take note of any signs or symptoms!10
What is the most common cause of ovarian cancer?
Arguably the biggest risk factor for ovarian cancer, after age, is having faulty or mutated genes such as BRCA genes or Lynch syndrome that can put you at an increased lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer. With a faulty BRCA1 gene and ovarian cancer, the risk of getting the disease in your life is 28-44%. For a faulty BRCA2 gene and ovarian cancer, the lifetime risk is 27%.3
There’s also an increased risk if you have a family history of cancer. Breast cancer and ovarian cancer risk are linked by the BRCA genes so a family history of breast cancer could mean a higher risk of ovarian cancer.3
There’s an NHS predictive genetic test if you have a strong family history of cancer. It’s predictive, so if it’s positive it doesn’t mean you’ll get cancer, just that you have an increased risk. You can speak to your GP about having this test.11 If you’re over 18 and have at least one Jewish grandparent you’ll be eligible for the NHS genetics test for faulty BRCA genes, this is because having Jewish ancestry increases your risk of inheriting the faulty BRCA genes.12
Endometriosis and ovarian cancer
Some research has suggested that endometriosis is associated with a higher risk of ovarian cancer, but a lot of this research has flaws. The European guidelines, which have evaluated all the available research, believe that deep endometriosis is not associated with a higher risk of ovarian cancer, but having an endometrioma or superficial peritoneal endometriosis, seems to increase the risk of some types of ovarian cancer.
Overall, they believe that women with endometriosis have a lifetime risk of ovarian cancer of 2.5%, compared to 1.3% in women without endometriosis.
Risk factors for ovarian cancer are just that, risk factors. And no one can predict who sadly will, and who will not be affected by ovarian cancer. So we’d recommend being aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer, and speak to your doctor if you are ever worried.
Sophie Stephens
Sophie is a registered biomedical scientist and is undertaking her PhD in women's cancer with a focus on the human microbiome and laboratory models. She has worked in various laboratories and found her calling in a reproductive health clinic using her microbiology knowledge to solve reproductive health problems which led to her starting a PhD at Imperial College London.
Our medical review process
This article has been medically reviewed for factual and up to date information by a Lowdown doctor.