Population Distribution of Lifetime Risk of Ovarian Cancer in the United States

abstract

Background: In U.S. women, lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1.37%, but some women are at a substantially lower or higher risk than this average. 

Methods: We have characterized the distribution of lifetime risk in the general population. Published data on the relative risks and their variances for five well-accepted risk and protective factors for ovarian cancer, oral contraceptive use, parity, tubal ligation, endometriosis, and first-degree family history of ovarian cancer in conjunction with a genetic risk score using genome-wide significant common, low penetrance variants were used. The joint distribution of these factors (i.e., risk/protective factor profiles) was derived using control data from four U.S. population–based studies, providing a broad representation of women in the United States. 

Results: A total of 214 combinations of risk/protective factors were observed, and the lifetime risk estimates ranged from 0.35% [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.29–0.42] to 8.78% (95% CI, 7.10–10.9). Among women with lifetime risk ranging from 4% to 9%, 73% had no family history of ovarian cancer; most of these women had a self-reported history of endometriosis. 

Conclusions: Profiles including the known modifiable protective factors of oral contraceptive use and tubal ligation were associated with a lower lifetime risk of ovarian cancer. Oral contraceptive use and tubal ligation were essentially absent among the women at 4% to 9% lifetime risk. 

Impact: This work demonstrates that there are women in the general population who have a much higher than average lifetime risk of ovarian cancer. Preventive strategies are available. Should effective screening become available, higher than average risk women can be identified. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 24(4); 671–6. ©2015 AACR.