WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A landmark study revealed that women with severe endometriosis are ten times more likely to get ovarian cancer, compared to women who do not suffer from the disease.
The study was conducted by researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.
For the research, published in Journal of the American Medical Association, scientists used the Utah Population Database at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. They analyzed the data between 1992 and 2019 of women with endometriosis, a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.
The researchers found that women suffering from severe types of endometriosis are more likely to develop type I ovarian cancer, while women with any kind of endometriosis are at a 4.2-fold times risk of developing ovarian cancer compared to those who do not.
'Magnitudes of these associations varied by endometriosis subtype. Individuals diagnosed with deep infiltrating endometriosis and/or ovarian endometriomas had 9.66 times the risk of ovarian cancer when compared with individuals without endometriosis,' the researchers stated.
According to Mayo Clinic, endometriosis often affects the ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining the pelvis. It causes painful periods, pain with sex, pain with bowel movements or urination, excessive bleeding, infertility, and other symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, constipation, and bloating.
Karen Schliep, senior author of the new study and an associate professor in the Division of Public Health at the University of Utah School of Medicine, advised, 'The best way of preventing ovarian cancer is still the recommendation of exercise, not smoking and limiting alcohol.'
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