Premenopausal Women with High Risk of Ovarian Cancer Prefer two-stage Surgical Approach for Cancer Prevention, Study Suggests

Dec, 2020 - By SMI

According to a new research study by the researchers of Queen Mary University of London have reported that premenopausal women at higher risk of ovarian cancer are increasingly preferring a two-stage surgical approach for cancer prevention.

It is evident that removal of both the fallopian tubes and ovaries is the normal preventive practice offered to women with high risk of ovarian cancer, however the surgery prompts early menopause in women. Moreover, early menopause results in various side effects such as osteoporosis, increased risk of heart-disease, sexual-dysfunction, and neurocognitive decline, among others.

In addition, a new alternative, two-step surgical protocol delays the prompted menopause caused by the removal of the ovaries. In this surgical approach, fallopian tubes are removed are initially to reduce some level of risk, and ovary removal procedure is halted until women reaches the menopause stage. Moreover, this surgical approach reduces some level of risk associated with ovarian cancer risk, simultaneously avoiding unfavorable consequences of premature surgically-induced menopause.

According to a study, researchers evaluated the preference of alternative two-step surgical protocol. The study involved 638 study participants with increased risk of ovarian cancer, of which 346 underwent standard procedure and remaining 337 did not undergo any surgery. Researchers observed that women who underwent standard preventive surgery, 9.4% of premenopausal and 1.2% postmenopausal women had negative outcomes and regretted about the surgery. Moreover group of women without any surgery highly preferred for adopting two-step surgical protocol.

Professor Ranjit Manchanda, Lead researcher from Queen Mary University of London stated, “Undergoing an operation to prevent ovarian cancer can be a complex decision making process. A number of women opt to delay or decline preventive surgery as a result. The new two-step operation offers additional options for women (who may have not undergone surgical prevention) to reduce their ovarian cancer risk while avoiding the negative impact of early menopause.”