Ovarian cancer is cancer that starts in the ovaries or nearby fallopian tubes. Asbestos is a recognized cause: the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded in 2012 that there is sufficient evidence that asbestos causes ovarian cancer. It is central to lawsuits over talc products contaminated with asbestos.
Origin
Studies of women with heavy workplace asbestos exposure, such as gas-mask and textile workers, reported excess ovarian cancers, and researchers from the 1970s onward also studied genital talc use and ovarian cancer. IARC reviewed the evidence in Monograph 100C and listed ovarian cancer, with laryngeal cancer, as caused by asbestos.
Significance in Asbestos Context
Most ovarian cancers are high-grade serous carcinomas, which can spread across the lining of the abdomen and look very much like peritoneal mesothelioma, so pathologists use immunostains to tell them apart. Ovarian cancer claims today run mainly through lawsuits over talc and other products alleged to contain asbestos, where the evidence focuses on the product used, how it was used and for how long, and testing of the product. Asbestos bankruptcy trusts do not pay ovarian cancer claims: no currently open trust pays them; trusts that haven't opened yet, including the Imerys talc trust, may pay them in the future. Disability benefits may also be available. Risk factors other than asbestos, such as inherited BRCA mutations, family history and age, will be part of any case, so a complete medical and family history matters.
Example Sentence
She had used talcum powder daily for decades before she was diagnosed with high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
Related Terms
Ovarian Serous Carcinoma, IARC Classification, Cosmetic Talc, Talc Litigation, Perineal Migration, Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma, CA-125
Notes
- Write down which powder products you used, where, how often and for how many years; keep any containers you still have.
- Keep the pathology report and any genetic test results.
- Ask your doctor whether genetic counseling is recommended; it is standard for many ovarian cancer patients.
In the research library
267 studies in our medical research library mention Ovarian Cancer in the title or abstract. Among the most cited:
- Epidemiology of ovarian cancer: a reviewB.M. Reid, J.B. Permuth, T.A. Sellers, 2017 · Cancer Biology & Medicine · cited 1,112 times
- Possible role of ovarian epithelial inflammation in ovarian cancerR.B. Ness, C. Cottreau, 1999 · Journal of the National Cancer Institute · cited 440 times
- Ovarian cancer and talc: a case-control studyD.W. Cramer, W.R. Welch, R.E. Scully, et al, 1982 · Cancer · cited 176 times
- Ovarian surface epithelium as a source of ovarian cancers: unwarranted speculation or evidence-based hypothesis?N. Auersperg, 2013 · Gynecologic Oncology · cited 95 times
- Occupational exposure to asbestos and ovarian cancer: a meta-analysisM.C. Camargo, L.T. Stayner, K. Straif, et al, 2011 · Environmental Health Perspectives · cited 85 times
The journals that publish most on it: American Journal of Industrial Medicine (7), Cancers (7), International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (6).
Category: Diseases & Conditions · All Lexicon terms A–Z
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