For Some Women, Ovary Removal Could Be Life Saving
A very interesting new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association looks at women who carried genes that put them at increased risk for ovarian cancer.
KYW medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough reports some women chose to have surgery to remove the ovaries to try to prevent problems down the line. Other kept their ovaries and had medical treatments designed to try and pick up ovarian cancer early.
One of the problems with ovarian cancer is that it is very difficult to detect in its earliest stages. Of those who had surgery there were dramatic results.
One percent were later diagnosed with ovarian cancer that showed up in cells missed by surgeons. That was compared to six percent of the women who kept their ovaries.