Publications by authors named "Kate Gersekowski"
Risk Factors for Ovarian Cancer by BRCA Status: A Collaborative Case-Only Analysis.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
April 2024
Article Synopsis
- Women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are at high risk for ovarian cancer, but the impact of behavioral factors isn’t fully understood.
- A study analyzed data from 637 BRCA mutation carriers and 4,289 noncarriers to compare the effects of reproductive, hormonal, and lifestyle risk factors on ovarian cancer risk.
- Findings indicate that protective factors like pregnancy and using birth control may have less effect for BRCA carriers, while associations with lifestyle factors like smoking and physical activity are similar for both groups, suggesting that healthy lifestyle advice benefits everyone.
Background: Although folate intake has not been associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer overall, studies of other cancer types have suggested that high folate intake may promote carcinogenesis in precancerous lesions. Women with endometriosis (a potential precancerous lesion) have an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer; however, whether high folate intake increases risk in this group is unknown.
Methods: We conducted a pooled analysis of six case-control studies from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium to investigate the association between folate intake and risk of ovarian cancer among women with and without self-reported endometriosis.
Objective: Women with ovarian cancer who have a pathogenic germline variant in BRCA1 or BRCA2 (BRCA) have been shown to have better 5-year survival after diagnosis than women who are BRCA-wildtype (non-carriers). Modifiable lifestyle factors, including smoking, physical activity and body mass index (BMI) have previously been associated with ovarian cancer survival; however, it is unknown whether these associations differ by germline BRCA status.
Methods: We investigated measures of lifestyle prior to diagnosis in two cohorts of Australian women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, using Cox proportional hazards regression to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).