Ovarian Cancer Risk Triples Among Women With Defective Genes

In the United Kingdom, 7,100 are diagnosed with cancer of the ovary every year and more than half of them die from the disease. Normally, around 18 out of 1,000 women develops ovarian cancer but in the case of those suffering from faulty genes, the number spikes around 58 out of 1,000 women.

According to studies, this is because of the defective gene that prevents the cells from repairing their DNA.  "BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are producing cancer-fighting chemical substances," a report says.

These genes are usually involved in the cases of hereditary ovarian cancer because instead of having two copies, usually one from the mother and one from the father, they only have one copy which results to a decreased potential of preventing cancer. BRCA1 gives you 40 percent risk of having ovarian cancer while BRCA2 gives you 10-15 percent risk of developing the disease according to Ovarian Cancer Australia.

Furthermore, research also revealed that women with defective genes are diagnosed with an aggressive late-stage ovarian cancer later in their lives. As posted on Independent, professor of Cancer Research U.K. Cambridge Institute, Paul Pharoah believed that the discovery of the risk is valuable behind the development of ovarian cancer among women and that it will eventually help form the basis of a genetic test to identify those at greatest risks.

In addition, researchers are hopeful that identifying women with greater risk will help prevent the development of cancer and may enhance the possibility of saving lives due to early detection and better cancer prognosis.

Despite the vital discovery, the senior science information manager of Cancer Research U.K., Nell Barrie claimed that they still need urgent ways on how to detect ovarian cancer as early as possible because this kind of cancer is usually diagnosed at a later stage where the cancer cells already spread and the treatment is less likely to be effective as posted on SBS.