Ovarian Cancer Prevention: An Overview
Doctors cannot always explain why one person will get
ovarian cancer and another person will not. However, research scientists have studied general patterns of cancer in the population to learn what may increase a person's chances of developing cancer.
Anything that increases a person's chances of developing a disease is called a risk factor; anything that decreases a person's chances is called a protective factor. Ovarian cancer prevention means avoiding the risk factors and increasing the protective factors that can be controlled so that the chances of developing ovarian cancer decrease.
Ovarian Cancer Prevention: Know the Risk Factors
The first step in ovarian cancer prevention is knowing what the risk factors are for the disease. Some ovarian cancer risk factors can be avoided, but many cannot.
Studies have identified the following ovarian cancer risk factors: