According to a British study, the more children a woman has, the lower her risk of ovarian cancer may be.
The study carried out by British researchers also found that the risk of ovarian cancer is lower in women whose fallopian tubes have been tied — a procedure called tubal ligation.
Data from more than 8,000 women was analysed by the researchers to arrive at this conclusion.
According to lead researcher, Kezia Gaitskell, who is a pathologist in the University of Oxford’s Cancer Epidemiology Unit, women with one child had a 20 percent lower overall risk of ovarian cancer and a 40 percent lower risk of endometrioid and clear cell tumours when compared to women with no children.
Gaitskell noted that some conditions — such as endometriosis — that make it harder for a woman to get pregnant may also increase her risk for specific types of ovarian cancer.
The study also found that women whose fallopian tubes had been tied had a 20 percent lower overall risk of ovarian cancer; a 20 percent lower risk for high-grade serous tumours; and a 50 percent lower risk for endometrioid and clear cell tumours.
The study was presented at a meeting of the U.K.’s National Cancer Research Institute, in Liverpool.
S.O.Z