The accurate cause of ovarian cancer is still unknown. However, there are some factors which contribute in raising the risk of developing ovarian cancer. Most of these seem to be linked to the working of the ovaries.

Like most other cancers, the risk of occurring ovarian cancer increases with the age. Apart from this factor, the risk of developing ovarian cancer may be amplified by

• A family background of cancer
• Infertility or having fertility treatment
• Comprising of breast cancer
• Using hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
• Having endometriosis
• Being obese or tall
• Using talcum powder
• Smoking

A family background of cancer

Most of the ovarian cancers occur due to gene alterations which develop during a woman’s life span and are not inherited. But about 1 out of 10 % ovarian cancer cases are resulted in the consequences of an inherited faulty gene. Faulty inherited genes which raise the risk of developing ovarian cancer include BRCA1 and BRCA2. These genes are also identified to increase the risk of breast cancer.

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According to an online publication on Wednesday in the medical journal, ‘Lancet Oncology’ that with screening women for ovarian cancer enabled doctors to detect the disease almost two years prior, than in ordinary screening routine. Around 100,000 women are killed each year by ovarian cancer.

It has been a continuous search by the Scientists to find ovarian cancer occurrence earlier, which can save almost 90 percent of women. Whereas, currently women are diagnosed after the disease has spread leaving only 30 percent chances of survival.

To conduct the study 200,000 post menopausal women aged 50 to 74 were enrolled covering 2001 to 2005 records from U.K.  Out of these 100,000 women did not receive any screening tests, whereas almost 50,000 underwent blood test screening. In case of finding an abnormality the women then underwent an ultrasound. Rests of the 50,000 women were screened through ultrasound.

Ovaries are the most important part of the female reproductive system. A woman contains two ovaries, situated at the both sides of the uterus.

The function of ovaries is to produce ovum that combine with the male sperm to produce fertilized egg called “zygote” and hormones which includes estrogen and

progesterone.

Ovarian cancer occurs when cells start to grow abruptly in an uncontrolled fashion, resulting in the formation of tumor. Each year, 23,000 new cases of ovarian cancer are being diagnosed in the U.S.

On average, 90 percent of cancer develops in the epithelium, the thin outer covering, of the ovaries. Unfortunately, ovarian cancer remains undiagnosed till it has spread in the abdomen.

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The female ovaries are the key part of female reproductive system. These are situated in the pelvic region. The size of ovary is almost equal to a size of rich almond.

Ovaries, under the influence of endocrine system release the sex hormone i.e. estrogen and progesterone. The function of the ovaries is to release egg that travel through the fallopian tube to the uterus.

During the menopause, the ovaries stop egg production and release very minute level of hormones.

Ovarian cancer an overview

Almost all types of cancer grow at the cellular level. It’s a natural process that body form new cells through cell multiplication when the old cells die. These new cell replace the old dead cells and keep the body in proper working condition. If some how, the cells start to replicate without the need of the body and unable to replace the old cells, a mass of tissues called “tumor” would be produced.

The results of a large scale Danish study show that fertility drugs don’t appear to boost risk of ovarian cancer in the women who use these drugs.

In the study, which included 54,362 those women who were referred to fertility clinics from 1963 to 1998, the researchers didn’t notice any boost in the risk of developing ovarian cancer from some IVF drug.

However, according to the researchers, they will look for and follow all the participants of the study till old age to confirm the results of their study.

The study has been published in the journal of British Medical.

The researchers say that there had been debates over the use of these fertility drugs for quite long time as many experts believed that the use of these drugs could boost the risk of getting ovarian cancer in women.

In this study, the researchers found that those women who were referred to nearly all Danish fertility clinics, only 156 had become the victim of ovarian cancer.