1. Pelvic Inflammation and the Pathogenesis of Ovarian Cancer: A Cohort Study
- Author
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Sarka Lisonkova, Jessica N. McAlpine, K.S. Joseph, and Peter F. McComb
- Subjects
Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Population ,Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial ,Cohort Studies ,Young Adult ,Gynecologic Surgical Procedures ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Humans ,Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial ,education ,Ovarian Neoplasms ,Gynecology ,education.field_of_study ,British Columbia ,business.industry ,Incidence ,Incidence (epidemiology) ,Obstetrics and Gynecology ,Cancer ,Odds ratio ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Confidence interval ,Ovarian Cysts ,Standardized mortality ratio ,Oncology ,Case-Control Studies ,Female ,business ,Ovarian cancer ,Pelvic Inflammatory Disease ,Cohort study - Abstract
ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine whether pelvic inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer or other malignancies.DesignThis article is a cohort study.SettingThe study was conducted in a tertiary university and provincial cancer referral institutions.Population SampleThe population sample was composed of women referred for fertility surgery and women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in British Columbia.MethodsWe conducted a cohort study using prospectively collected data on fertility surgery patients. Eight hundred eighty-eight women with past pelvic inflammation, as diagnosed by characteristic findings at fertility surgery, and 552 women without were compared for the subsequent development of malignancy, during the period of 1981 to 2012. Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Standardized incidence ratios were also calculated using age-specific cancer incidence rates among all women in British Columbia.ResultsThe adjusted odds ratio for ovarian cancer, after past inflammation, was 5.56 (95% confidence interval, 0.52–59.40). Age-adjusted ovarian cancer incidence was significantly elevated among women with previous pelvic inflammation (standardized incidence ratio, 3.99; 95% confidence interval, 1.46–8.68). The rates of other malignancies were similar in both cohorts.ConclusionThe rate of ovarian cancer was not significantly elevated in women with past pelvic inflammation compared with the controls. However, a significantly increased risk for ovarian cancer was apparent among women with pelvic inflammation when compared with the general population. Pelvic inflammation may be a contributory factor in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer.
- Published
- 2014