Evaluating the role of alcohol consumption in breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility using population-based cohort studies and two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses https://tinyurl.com/j828m3h8            Data previously obtained from the UK Biobank has shown an association with the consumption of alcohol and a increase in the risk of developing breast cancer, with a less clearly demonstrated possibility of increased risk of ovarian cancer also.                  This retrospective study looked at 69000 women from the Copenhagen general population study, all of who consumed more than 10g of alcohol (about one standard drink) daily. Of these women more than 400 subsequently had ovarian cancer and about 4,000, breast cancer.               Hazard ratios for both cancers were obtain...

Ovarian cancer population screening and mortality after long-term follow-up in the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS): a randomised controlled trial https://tinyurl.com/56vm6t6u            Once again screening for ovarian cancer has proved to be elusive. This trial, the largest ever, commenced in 2001 and recruiting until 2005 had more than 200,000 participants.          There were three different groups; about 50,000 women were allocated to a regime of measurement of serum CA125; a known marker for ovarian cancer and other disease. The frequency of testing was determined by risk, an algorithm (risk ovarian cancer algorithm ROCA) was used.          The other two groups were about 50,000 women having annual pelvic ultrasound scans with 100,000 women being in the control group, having no screening. The target for success was ...

Comparison of dose-dense vs. 3-weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin in the first-line treatment of ovarian cancer in a propensity score-matched cohort https://tinyurl.com/3srdfe4z            Drug therapy for ovarian cancer is changing fast. New treatment with enzyme inhibitors and immunotherapy is having an effect to improve survival. However, these new therapies are most effective for those few women with ovarian cancer who have an inherited or acquired genetic mutation (about 12% of all cases).          For most patients the standard therapy for ovarian cancer after surgery is chemotherapy. Since 1992 this therapy has been commonplace and has significantly improved survival. Usually there is a three-week cycle of therapy; dense-dose treatment with a weekly cycle was introduced in 2011.          Side effects from dense-dose therapy are worse and a tri...

Birth weight and the risk of histological subtypes of ovarian and endometrial cancers: Results from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register https://tinyurl.com/3aau66w            Having a normal birth weight is a biological advantage. Low birth weights are associated with prematurity and intra uterine pathology. Greater than normal birth weights may be associated with gestational diabetes and can result in birth trauma.          For Australian women the current normal range, (within two standard deviations) is a measurement of 2791g at the lower limit and 4176g at the upper end. This study looked at live births in Denmark between 1930 and 1987 (162,559) and compared the birth weights with the risk of future ovarian cancer.          Findings from the retrospective review showed that both low birth weight and high birth weights were associated w...

Antihypertensive Drug Use and the Risk of Ovarian Cancer Death among Finnish Ovarian Cancer Patients—A Nationwide Cohort Study https://tinyurl.com/xyz8fnw9            Ovarian cancer and hypertension are health hazards. Women with ovarian cancer have 5 years relative survival of about 50%. Similarly aged women with treated hypertension still have a 20% increase in deaths due to cardiovascular events such as stroke or myocardial infarct.          Previous anecdotal evidence has suggested that women with ovarian cancer who are receiving anti-hypertension therapy have better survival. This large study from Finland looks at more than 12000 women with ovarian cancer, of whom about 7000 received antihypertensive drugs.          After making allowance for the associated risk of death due to hypertension, the findings confirmed that over the longer period (u...

Factors determining ultra-short-term survival and the commencement of active treatment in high-grade serous ovarian cancer: a case comparison study https://tinyurl.com/8tye27az          Overall survival from ovarian cancer is gradually improving by about 2% each year. In Australia women with ovarian cancer have a 5-year’s survival rate of around 50%. There is however a sub-group of women who have very short survival after diagnosis, with 13% of women in this study dying within 100 days from diagnosis.          Previous studies have suggested that the reasons for such a short survival include advanced stage, delay in diagnosis, older age, and general frailty. Included in this study were 208 women all treated at the same centre of excellence and of whom 28 died within 100 days following initial diagnosis, which meant that none of these short-term survivors completed first-line treatment.   ...

  Trends and racial disparities in aggressive end of life care for a national sample of women with ovarian cancer https://tinyurl.com/mv2drbpy            End of life care for patients with cancer should be better. Hospice and Palliative care are now standard for patients who have entered the terminal stages of their disease. However, it seems that certain demographic groups do not receive appropriate treatment enabling death with dignity.          This retrospective study looked at almost 8000 women who died from ovarian cancer during the period 2007 to 2016. Several indicators of sub-standard care were selected; late admission or no admission to palliative care, attendance at emergency departments, and futile chemotherapy or invasive procedures administered during the last 14 days of life.          Findings from the study showed disparity betw...