Dr. Paul Magtibay, a gynecologic cancer specialist, explains the gene mutations associated with cancers and which cancers increase the risk for others. Dr. Paul Magtibay is a practicing oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona.
Dr. Magtibay:
There is a link. For example, there are BRCA-1 and BRCA mutations. BRCA-1 and BRCA mutations are associated with a high risk of developing breast cancer, but along with that these patients are at an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer, again anywhere from 15 to 40 percent, depending on which type of the mutation that you have. So there is an association there.
Women who have had a history of breast cancer or women who have had a history of colon cancer are also at an increased risk of ovarian cancer. These carcinomas, are called adenocarcinomas, tend to run together. A breast adenocarcinoma or colon adenocarcinoma, if you’ve had those increases your risk of developing ovarian cancer.
And then finally there’s something called Lynch syndrome, which is associated with developing early onset colon cancer. These patients with Lynch syndrome are also at an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer.