Reproductive Shifts and Ovarian Cancer Risk in Women Aged 40 Years or Older

What are the associations between reproductive factors and ovarian cancer risk across menopausal status and birth cohorts?In this cohort study of 2 285 774 women in Korea aged 40 years or older, early menarche, later menopause, and longer reproductive span were associated with higher ovarian cancer risk, whereas parity of 2 or more births was associated with lower risk across menopausal status groups. Breastfeeding duration and oral contraceptive use were associated with lower risk only in premenopausal women, and the inverse association for parity was attenuated in the 1960s cohort.The findings of this study support the need for tailored prevention strategies in aging, low-fertility societies.

Corresponding Authors: Sung-Jong Lee, MD, PhD, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Seoul St Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea (orlando@catholic.ac.kr); Kyungdo Han, PhD, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Soongsil University, 369, Sangdo-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 06978, Republic of Korea (hkd917@naver.com).

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