Comments
"The cause of most ovarian cancers is not known. . . . Approximately 80% of ovarian cancers are sporadic, but about 20% can be linked to autosomal dominant germline mutations." [Cecil, p. 1332] See "Do we know what causes ovarian cancer?" on the website of the American Cancer Society. (Asbestos not mentioned.) "Occupational cohort studies have suggested that asbestos increases the risk and mortality of ovarian cancer. However, studies have had limited ability to control for confounding by factors other than age. . . . Supporting an association, asbestos fibers have been found in ovarian tissue." [Schottenfeld, p. 1018] "The Working Group carefully considered the possibility that cases of peritoneal mesothelioma may have been misdiagnosed as ovarian cancer, and that these contributed to observed excesses. Contravening that possibility is the finding that three of the studies cited here specifically examined the possibility that there were misdiagnosed cases of peritoneal mesothelioma, and all failed to find sufficient numbers of misclassified cases. The Working Group noted that the possibility of diagnostic misclassification had probably diminished in recent years because of the development of new immunohistochemical diagnostic techniques." [Hyperlink]