Study Identifies Some Modifiable Risk Factors for Ovarian Cancer

TUESDAY, Feb. 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Some risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer are modifiable, according to a study published online Jan. 6 in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer.

Iqbal Madakkatel, Ph.D., from University of South Australia in Adelaide, and colleagues used a data-driven machine learning approach to identify predictors of epithelial ovarian cancer from 2,920 input features from 221,732 female participants in the U.K. Biobank, with measurements taken 12.6 years before diagnoses.

The researchers found that greater parity and ever-use of oral contraception were associated with lower ovarian cancer risk (ever versus never: odds ratio [OR], 0.74). When adjusting for established risk factors, greater height, weight, and greater red blood cell distribution width were associated with increased ovarian cancer risk. Higher aspartate aminotransferase levels and mean corpuscular volume were associated with lower risk. Observational associations between anthropometric/adiposity traits (e.g., body fat percentage per standard deviation; OR inverse-variance weighted [OR_IVW], 1.28) and aspartate aminotransferase (OR_IVW, 0.87) were confirmed in Mendelian randomization analyses. There was also genetic evidence for a protective association of higher total serum protein on ovarian cancer, higher lymphocyte count on serous and endometrioid ovarian cancer, and greater forced expiratory volume in 1 second on serous ovarian cancer.

“This study shows that certain risk factors for ovarian cancer are modifiable, suggesting that weight reduction and interventions to reduce the number of ovulations may provide potential for future prevention,” the authors write.

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