Dr. Monica Prasad Hayes: “Ovarian Cancer Affects Thousands of Women Yearly and Doctors Have Yet to Find a Cause for the Disease”
Dr. Monica Prasad Hayes, Assistant Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology, Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses ovarian cancer: who is at risk, signs and symptoms, research breakthroughs, questions for your doctor, and what you can do.
Though less common than breast cancer, ovarian cancer still affects thousands of American women — 21,290 new diagnoses of the disease are made each year, and doctors estimate that 1 out of every 70 women will develop ovarian cancer in her lifetime. “While about 5-10% of ovarian cancers are genetic, the remaining 90% are thought to be sporadic; currently, we just don’t know an underlying cause for most women who are diagnosed.” Doctors have also identified certain factors that can decrease a woman's risk of developing ovarian cancer. “Although we don’t know exactly how the mechanism works, we recommend oral contraceptives as a huge prevention strategy, both for women in the general population, as well as for women with the BRCA mutation,” Dr. Hayes said. Learn more