This is surprising -- and not good news -- for women. For women who carry one of two specific gene mutations, BRCA1 or BRCA2, linked to an increase in breast and ovarian cancer risk, even if the ovaries and fallopian tubes are surgically removed, they are still at risk for developing a form of ovarian cancer called peritoneal cancer.

According to Dr. Steven Narod, a leading researcher in the field of inherited breast and ovarian cancers, women with the gene mutations still have a cancer risk nine times higher than women without the inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation.


"Is it bad news? Well, one would like to think you have your organs removed and the disease is not going to come," said Dr. Narod. The average Canadian woman has about a 1.4 percent lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer. The risks for women with the BRCA1 gene mutation is 60 percent and with the BRCA2 gene mutation is 25 percent.

Researchers call the surgical removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes a method of risk-reduction but that it will not completely prevent ovarian cancer. The Hereditary Ovarian Cancer Clinical Study Group have reported the study results in the Journal of the American Medical Association.