Ovary Removal Protects Some High-Risk Women

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But when the women with BRCA2 mutations were looked at separately, the researchers found the surgery reduced breast cancer risk by 72 percent -- almost twice as much as the 39 percent reduced risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers -- a reduction that didn't reach statistical significance.

The surgery reduced the risk of gynecologic cancer by 85 percent in women with a BRCA1 mutation, and was suggested in women with BRCA2 mutations, but the researchers were not able to compute the level of reduced risk, because few of these women had those cancers.

When they looked more closely, the researchers found the surgery had a protective effect on the form of breast cancer known as estrogen receptor-positive cancer, reducing risk by 78 percent in both BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers, but had no effect on ER-negative breast cancers -- which BRCA1 mutation carriers are more likely to get.

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"I don't think this is going to have a lot of clinical impact for the average person with a BRCA mutation," said Debbie Saslow, director of breast and gynecologic cancer for the American Cancer Society. "For the average person with BRCA mutation, this probably won't enter into her decision-making." For some, it may confirm surgery is the right thing to do, she added.

The study also raises some questions, said Dr. Angela R. Bradbury, director of the Margaret Dyson Family Risk Assessment Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "This paper raises a question about whether [the surgery] really reduces the risk of ovarian cancer in BRCA2," she said. However, she added, the preventive surgery "still remains the only good option."

More information

To learn more about BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, visit the American Cancer Society.

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