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Incomplete pregnancy and risk of ovarian cancer: results from two Australian case–control studies and systematic review

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Abstract

Although full-term pregnancies reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, it has not been conclusively established whether incomplete pregnancies also influence risk. We investigated the relationship between a history of incomplete pregnancy and incident epithelial ovarian cancer among over 4,500 women who participated in two large Australian population-based case–control studies in 1990–1993 and 2002–2005. They provided responses to detailed questions about their reproductive histories and other personal factors. Summary odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) derived for each study using the same covariates were aggregated. We found no significant associations between the number of incomplete pregnancies and ovarian cancer, for parous (OR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.89, 1.08) or nulliparous (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.75, 1.48) women, nor for the number of spontaneous or induced abortions and ovarian cancer for parous women (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.82, 1.09; OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.86, 1.36) or nulliparous women (OR = 1.2, 95% CI: 0.6, 2.4; OR = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.47, 1.38), respectively. A systematic review of 37 previous studies of the topic confirmed our findings that a history of incomplete pregnancy does not influence a woman’s risk of epithelial ovarian cancer.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for Case Control Study 1 was provided by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and the Queensland Cancer Fund, and for Case Control Study 2 by the U.S Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the Cancer Council Tasmania and the Cancer Foundation of Western Australia.

We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the following institutions: New South Wales: John Hunter Hospital, North Shore Private Hospital, Royal Hospital for Women, Royal North Shore Hospital, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Westmead Hospital, New South Wales Cancer Registry; Queensland: Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Townsville Hospital, Wesley Hospital, Queensland Cancer Registry; South Australia: Flinders Medical Centre, Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australian Cancer Registry; Tasmania: Royal Hobart Hospital; Victoria: Freemasons Hospital, Mercy Hospital For Women, Monash Medical Centre, Royal Women’s Hospital, Victorian Cancer Registry; Western Australia: King Edward Memorial Hospital, St John of God Hospitals Subiaco, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Western Australia Research Tissue Network (WARTN), Western Australia Cancer Registry. We also acknowledge the contribution of the study nurses and research assistants and would like to thank all of the women who participated in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Discipline of General Practice, School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Level 2 Edith Cavell Building, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Herston Road, Herston, Brisbane, QLD, 4129, Australia

    Marie-Louise B. Dick

  2. Cancer and Population Studies Group, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Herston Road, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Vic Siskind, David M. Purdie & Adèle C. Green

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  1. Marie-Louise B. Dick
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  2. Vic Siskind
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  4. Adèle C. Green
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Australian Cancer Study Group (Ovarian Cancer)

The Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group

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Correspondence to Marie-Louise B. Dick.

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Full membership of the Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group is listed at http://www.aocstudy.org/; the Australian Cancer Study Investigators are A. Green, P. Parsons, N. Hayward, P. Webb, and D. Whiteman.

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Dick, ML.B., Siskind, V., Purdie, D.M. et al. Incomplete pregnancy and risk of ovarian cancer: results from two Australian case–control studies and systematic review. Cancer Causes Control 20, 1571–1585 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9402-3

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