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All women have some risk of ovarian cancer.
What factors contribute to your risk for ovarian cancer? Not every factor has the same impact on risk. Some increase your risk only slightly. Others can raise it much more. These factors include:
age
Your risk increases as you get older.
family history
Your risk is higher if you have any close blood relatives who have had breast cancer prior to age 50 or ovarian cancer at any age.
reproductive history
Your risk is higher if you have never had children or have a history of difficulty of getting pregnant.
medication exposure
Your risk is lower if you have used oral contraceptives.
Your risk may be higher if you have taken hormone replacement.
ethnicity
White women from Europe and North America have a higher risk than other groups.
Jewish women of Eastern European (Ashkenazi) background may have an even higher risk.
other factors
Your risk is higher if you have a history of a condition called endometriosis.
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