Review examines salpingectomy alone for cutting ovarian CA risk

(HealthDay)—Salpingectomy alone may be a risk management option for women at hereditary risk of ovarian cancer, according to a review published in the May issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

Mary B. Daly, M.D., from the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, and colleagues discuss salpingectomy alone as an option for risk management for women at hereditary risk of ovarian cancer.

The researchers note that bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy has become the standard of care for risk reduction. Although the procedure significantly decreases the risks of incidence of and mortality from ovarian cancer, it also impacts quality of life and may have long-term health consequences. Recent advances indicate that the fallopian tube epithelium may be the origin of most high-grade serous cancers. Understanding the role of the fallopian tube in these cancers has led to consideration of salpingectomy alone as an option for risk management, especially for premenopausal women. For women undergoing benign gynecologic surgery, bilateral salpingectomy with ovarian retention may have a public health benefit.

"Although our view of epithelial ovarian cancer initiation has improved drastically with the understanding that carcinogenesis can begin in the fallopian tube epithelium, many knowledge gaps must be acknowledged when we consider moving forward for this new prevention strategy," the authors write.

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