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JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2001 93(3):173-175; doi:10.1093/jnci/93.3.173
© 2001 by Oxford University Press
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Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 93, No. 3, 173-175, February 7, 2001
© 2001 Oxford University Press

NEWS

Prophylactic Oophorectomy in the Genome Age: Balancing New Data Against Uncertainties

Laura Newman

"It is a very difficult thing to recommend prophylactic oophorectomy when it is healthy women you are talking about," said Mary-Claire King, Ph.D. "It is a radical thing to consider in a feminist age."

Yet King—who discovered the BRCA1 gene in 1990—said that her thinking has "evolved a lot in the last 25 years." King, who is an American Cancer Society professor of medicine and genetics at the University of Washington at Seattle, said that at first, neither the genetic connection of ovarian and breast cancer, nor the value of prophylactic oophorectomy for both cancers, was yet known.

Experience with genetic testing and follow-up of women who carry the high-risk gene has sharpened her perspective.

"I have seen too many women [carriers] die of ovarian cancer," King observed. Recent studies suggesting that oophorectomy may substantially lower gene carriers’ risk for both ovarian and . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Cancer Risk Reduction

Recent Findings

Surgical Protocol Unclear

Surgical Technique

Study Limitations


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