Leaving ovaries and cancer

Ovarian cancer is called the silent cancer as it is hard to detect often until too late.

Don't want to scare you.

But it is a personal choice to remove or keep and you are no more at risk keeping them after surgery, as not having hysterectomy but some surgeons prefer to remove as with the cervix for prevention.

I am due to have mine removed and if they weren't covered in endometriosis and adhered to bowel I would leave them as I am so young.

But chat to your surgeon and way up the pros and cons.

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Originally posted by ellie_washingto But it is a personal choice to remove or keep and you are no more at risk keeping them after surgery, as not having hysterectomy but some surgeons prefer to remove as with the cervix for prevention.

Actually, I found a quotation from a book that states that you are far LESS likely to get ovarian cancer if you have a hysterectomy.

"The risk of ovarian cancer goes down if the ovaries remain after hysterectomy. The reason for this is not clear, but it may be that the path for potential carcinogens from the vagina to the ovaries is interrupted when the uterus is removed. Thus, the risk of a woman developing ovarian cancer after hysterectomy is probably closer to 1 in 300 rather than 1 in 80 for women who have not had a hysterectomy. The benefit of removing ovaries for ovarian cancer prevention has been overstated in the medical literature and is, therefore, misunderstood by most physicians."

You can read all of it here - http://www.gynsecondopinion.com/hysterectomy.htm

Certainly it's useful as a prophylaxis for women with genetic markers for ovarian cancer and known family history.

I believe the problem with keeping your ovaries after a hysterectomy when it comes to ovarian cancer arises when some of the early symptoms of the cancer are masked. Many of the early symptoms of ovarian cancer revolve around changes in the cycle and bleeding - things that aren't as noticeable without the uterus.

Surgical and early menopause present their own set of problems including increased risk of hypertension and osteporosis. HRT is wonderfully helpful at averting these, and many, many women find HRT helpful at resuming the full, productive lives. But HRT is not useful for everyone and some women have difficulty finding the right balance of hormones.

It is a choice you should make in consultation with your doctor. My opinion, as everyone already knows, is if you have no problems with your ovaries (no endo, no painful recurring cysts, no cancer risk) is to leave them there.

From what I have read, C125 is not too accurate. I did a better check of my family history & it appears there is not much cancer risk. We do have breast cancer & hrt can contribute to that, but breast cancer is much easier to detect than ovarian. I feel good that I have read some of the info that has been provided in these posts. I guess & keep reading & wait form my doctor to respond to my letter.