Long-term risk of cancer among the first-degree relatives of epithelial ovarian cancer patients - A cohort study with 48 years of follow up

Sep 24, 2026

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Long-term cancer risk among first-degree relatives of epithelial ovarian cancer patients, especially offspring, is clinically important because only a minority of cases are explained by well-established inherited factors. A retrospective registry cohort followed 6,501 first-degree relatives of 559 epithelial ovarian cancer patients for up to 48 years, assessing overall cancer and site-specific cancers. Overall cancer incidence was not increased, yet ovarian cancer risk was elevated, mainly among sisters, with a decreasing trend by age.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background on epithelial ovarian cancer and inherited risk

Material and methods

Registry-based retrospective cohort design

Results

Overall cancer incidence and site-specific findings

Conclusions

Implications for counseling, testing, and prevention

DOI: 10. 1111/aogs.14504 OR I G I NAL R E S E AR C H ART I C L E Long-term risk of cancer among the first-degree relatives of epithelial ovarian cancer patients: A cohort study with 48 years of follow up Laura Kotaniemi-Talonen1,2,3 | Eero Pukkala4,5 | Kristiina Aittomäki6 | Annika Auranen1,2,3 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland 2Tays Cancer Centre, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland 3 Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland 4Finnish Cancer Registry—Institute for Statistical and Epidemiological Cancer Research, Helsinki, Finland 5Health Sciences Unit, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland 6Department of Medical and Clinical Genetics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Correspondence Laura Kotaniemi-Talonen, Tampere University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Kauppi Campus, Arvo Building, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, 33520 Tampere, Finland. Email: [laura.kotaniemi-talonen@tuni.fi](laura.kotaniemi-talonen@tuni.fi) Abstract Introduction: The long-term risk of cancer among first-degree relatives of ovarian cancer patients, especially their offspring, is of apparent clinical importance. Risks caused by known inherited factors such as BRCA1 or BRCA2 pathogenic variants are well established, but these account for only about 15% of ovarian cancer cases. Less is known about the possible familial risks of sporadic ovarian cancers. Material and methods: Using registry data, we conducted a retrospective cohort study with a total of 6501 first-degree relatives of 559 epithelial ovarian cancer patients. We studied the occurrence of overall cancer and cancer in specific sites known or suspected to be associated with ovarian cancer (breast, cervix, colon, endometrium, lung and trachea, skin melanoma, ovary, pancreas, prostate, rectum, and stomach) . Results: The overall number of cancers was not increased among the first-degree relatives of epithelial ovarian cancer patients during the up to 48 years of follow up. Among female relatives, the standardized incidence ratio for ovarian cancer was 1.92 (95% CI 1.27–2.79), mostly explained by a 2 . 30-fold (95% CI 1.46–3.45) risk among the patients' sisters. There was a decreasing trend in the standardized incidence ratio for ovarian cancer among patients' sisters by increasing age of the index patient. Conclusions: In our study cohort, we did not observe an increase in the overall cancer risk among the first-degree relatives of epithelial ovarian cancer patients in comparison with the general population. The risk for ovarian cancer, however, was increased. Current recommendations suggest prophylactic removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries only with identified inherited risk factors. Our results emphasize the role of genetic counseling and testing, particularly in young ovarian cancer patients and their close female relatives. K E Y WO R D S cancer risk, epithelial ovarian cancer, first-degree relatives, ovarian cancer risk, standardized incidence ratio | Abbreviations: BRCA, breast cancer gene; BRCA1, breast cancer gene 1; BRCA2, breast cancer gene 2; CI, confidence interval; EOC, epithelial ovarian cancer; SIR, standardized incidence ratio. | | --- | | This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
© 2023 The Authors. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology (NFOG) . | [240](240 | wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/aogs)[ |](240 | wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/aogs)[ wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/aogs](240 | wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/aogs) Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2023;102:240–245 . 1 | IN

FAQs

What was the main objective of this cohort study?

To quantify long-term cancer risk among first-degree relatives of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, with emphasis on familial risk patterns over extended follow-up.

Did first-degree relatives show an increased overall cancer risk?

No. The overall number of cancers among first-degree relatives was not increased during up to 48 years of follow-up.

Which relatives had the highest increased risk for ovarian cancer?

Among female relatives, ovarian cancer risk was increased, mostly explained by a substantially higher risk among sisters, with a decreasing trend as the index patient’s age increased.

Sep 24, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca