What causes ovarian cancer? Am I at risk? |
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Who gets ovarian cancer?
Ovarian cancer mostly affects women over the age of 50, and as with many cancers, your risk of developing it increases with age. Most women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer have gone through menopause.
What are the causes of ovarian cancer? Am I at risk?
It’s not clear what causes ovarian cancer, though a family history of cancer is one of the biggest risk factors. (About 10 percent of ovarian cancers are connected to a faulty, inherited gene.)
Risk factors include:
- family history of the disease
- having breast cancer
- being infertile or having fertility treatment
- using hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- being overweight or tall
- endometriosis
- smoking
- eating saturated fat
- frequent use of talcum powder
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