They don’t call ovarian cancer the silent killer for nothing.  At this time there is absolutely NO effective methods of ovarian cancer screening.  Kind of scary, eh?  Some doctors recommend transvaginal ultrasound examinations, blood tests for the antigen CA-125, and clinical examinations for ovarian cancer screening in women with harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, but none of these methods appears to detect ovarian tumors at an early enough stage to reduce the risk of dying from ovarian cancer (21).

Many BRCA sisters I’ve met over the past few years that have not yet had any risk reduction surgeries have opted to get the aforementioned screening done every 6 months.  If you’re like me, it might help you feel like you are doing something while you contemplate the timing and direction of your surgeries.  I have and will continue to do the ultrasounds and CA-125 tests until my surgeries are complete.

Depending on which doctor you talk with, experts would urge us BRCA+ ladies to have our risk reducing surgeries between age 35-40 and after child-bearing is complete.  Talk to your doctor in more detail to figure out the best plan for you.

Here are some terms to get to know…

Oophorectomy (Ooph) the surgical removal of both ovaries to lower the risk for ovarian cancer.  ***Bonus!  Oophorectomies have been shown to lower the risk for primary breast cancers in BRCA carriers who do not have bilateral mastectomies.

Salpingectomy (Salping) – the surgical removal of the fallopian tubes.  Tube removal helps reduce ovarian cancer risk without altering hormonal function.  Some ladies opt to have their tubes out first and their ovaries out later to avoid the symptoms of going into early menopause.  It’s not known if this approach will be protective for high risk individuals so talk to your doctor about what may be best for you.

Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy (BSO) – removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes

Tubal ligation – often referred to as “having your tubes tied,” is a surgical procedure in which a woman’s fallopian tubes are blocked, tied, or cut and is a great option for increased-risk patients who aren’t ready to remove their ovaries. The procedure can reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by as much as 34% 

Did you know that?

Taking oral contraceptives for 5 years (even non-consecutively) in your 20s and 30s can reduce your ovarian cancer risk by nearly half!

Having surgery does not completely guarantee that cancer will not develop because not all at-risk tissue can be removed by these procedures, however one promising study showed that women who underwent bilateral prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy had a nearly 80 percent reduction in risk of dying from ovarian cancer.