Ovarian cancer is a cancer affecting one or both ovaries. Contrary to what you might think, ovarian cancer often does not develop in the ovaries but instead develops in one of the two Fallopian tubes. Removing the Fallopian tubes means that malignant cells can no longer develop there. This reduces the risk of ovarian cancer later in life.
What is the risk of developing ovarian cancer?
Approximately 13 in 1000 women in the Netherlands develop ovarian cancer. This means that few women will develop ovarian cancer, but the consequences are often severe.
Most women who develop ovarian cancer will develop this between the ages of 55 and 80 years. Ovarian cancer often causes very few symptoms or only vague symptoms. As a result, the disease is usually only discovered once it has already spread, which is the case in 75 out of 100 women. 70 out of 100 women with ovarian cancer die within 5 years.
What effect does sterilisation have on ovarian cancer?
Having the Fallopian tubes tied with clips or seared shut reduces the risk of ovarian cancer from 13 in 1000 women to 9 in 1000 women.
Having the Fallopian tubes removed reduces the risk of ovarian cancer even further, namely from 13 in 1000 women to 5 in 1000 women.
As ovarian cancer can also develop in other ways, a small risk of ovarian cancer still remains.