Abstract
Ovarian cancer is a fatal gynaecological cancer and eighth most common cancer in women globally. Lifestyle, reproductive and sociodemographic factors are among the influential parameters that may significantly affect the risk of ovarian cancer and its mortality rate. However, the epidemiological investigations have shown that the risk of ovarian cancers associated with these factors is different in varied geographical distributions. Lifestyle and reproductive factors have not been investigated thoroughly across a wide cultural diversity. The objective of this study is to investigate the association of these factors with ovarian cancer in Pakistan. This investigation will focus on the lifestyle effects of fat intake, intake of tea, habitual exercise, use of talc, personal hygiene, habit of holding urine for long time, obesity on ovarian cancer among Pakistani women. Reproductive variables will include age at menarche, natural menopausal age, parity, nulliparity (miscarriages, abortion, stillbirths), infertility, fertilitytreatment, tubal ligation, oral contraceptive use, and family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Sociodemographic variables will include effect of age, income, education, and geographical location. A case-control study will be conducted in the major cancer hospitals of Pakistan and the patients will also be interviewed. The controls will be recruited outside the hospital. For controls the same age limit and residency requirements will be applied. The information gained from this research will be an important contribution to develop programs for health promotion, with a focus on ovarian cancer prevention and women's health. The findings could be used for health policies and planning to prevent ovarian cancer. The research will pave the way for a public policy and interventions to reduce the burden of ovarian cancer in Pakistan.
Highlights
Ovarian cancer is one of the most frequently fatal gynaecologic cancers (Jayson et al, 2014; Tworoger & Huang, 2016)
According to the American Institute for Cancer Research report, in 2018 ovarian cancer globally accounted for 3.6% of all forms of cancers and the eighth leading cause of death among women globally (Merritt et al, 2018)
46% of ovarian cancer patients survive beyond 5 years (Kathawala et al, 2018)
Summary
Ovarian cancer is one of the most frequently fatal gynaecologic cancers (Jayson et al, 2014; Tworoger & Huang, 2016). Clinical evidence shows that by eliminating and decreasing the risk factors, the ovarian cancer cases can be prevented (Bray et al, 2018). Ali (2018) noted that knowledge on ovarian cancer might increase survival rate. Gabriel et al (2019) found the use of talc in genital areas to be a risk factor for ovarian cancer in England. Lee et al (2013) showed that consumption of green tea increases ovarian cancer risk in a Chinese population. Study objective This study explores lifestyle (use of talc, obesity, pattern of weight change), reproductive health (miscarriages, age at menarche, menopausal age, parity, nulliparity) and sociodemographic factors (age, income, and geographical location) associated with ovarian cancer in Pakistan
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