Ovarian cancer is more dangerous than breast cancer

Treacherous ovarian cancer: removal of the ovaries for prevention

03/25/2015

After the actress Angelina Jolie has decided to remove the ovaries because of her individual cancer risk, there is a lot of public discussion about how such a step makes sense. For similar stir, the actress had provided in 2013 with her breast removal. In many cases, she also received medical approval for the courageous step.

Based on genetic testing, Angelina Jolie has been diagnosed with a very high risk of cancer inherited from her mother, explains the Cancer Information Service of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. The actress has a mutation of the so-called BRCA gene, which, according to the DKFZ, is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer in both women and men. Although the now performed removal of the ovaries appears to be a radical step, according to the experts, this is justified for BRCA mutations. Compared to the „Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger“ The head of the Cancer Information Service, Susanne Weg-Remers, said it makes sense to remove the ovaries, „when a mutated BRCA gene has been detected.“

BRCA mutations increase the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer
BRCA genes carry all human beings and play an essential role in the repair of DNA damage, Remers reports. Also, not every carrier of a BRCA gene change will have to suffer from breast or ovarian cancer in the course of its life, but the risk of disease is significantly increased compared to women without such a mutation. According to the Cancer Information Service, estimated „65 to 75 percent of BRCA1 mutation carriers and 45 to 65 percent of BRCA2 mutation carriers up to the age of 70“ of breast cancer. The risk of ovarian cancer was also significantly increased in carriers of a BRCA mutation. This is especially true for carriers of a BRCA1 mutation, of which approximately 40 to 50 percent contracted ovarian cancer until their 70th birthday. For the BRCA2 mutations it is ten to twenty percent.

Higher mortality from ovarian cancer
The head of the Cancer Information Service further explains that ten times more women in Germany suffer from breast cancer (74,000) each year than from ovarian cancer (7,800). But the mortality rate is significantly higher in ovarian cancer, because he is less recognizable. In many women, ovarian cancer is fatal and the risks of ovarian removal are rather low compared to the risk of disease. According to the DKFZ, preventive surgical removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes (prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy) not only reduces the risk of developing ovarian cancer but also reduces the risk of breast cancer. (Fp)