Risk Factors for Ovarian Cancer

Consistently identified risk factors for ovarian cancer include: ▪ a positive family history ▪ few or no children ▪ older age at first marriage and childbirth. There is a protective effect for childbearing and use of the oral contraceptive pill. There is some evidence that patients with HER-2 over-expression have a worse response to chemotherapy and a worse prognosis, but the reported studies are retrospective only and there is no evidence that the gene is a risk factor for the development of ovarian cancer. Risk factor Relative risk General population 1 Family history 17-50 Nulliparity 4-5 1-2 children 3 Obesity 2 Oral contraceptive 0.5