This simple surgery could slash ovarian cancer rates in Canada, specialists say

Lindsay Mazepa had never heard of opportunistic salpingectomy.

But when Mazepa was discussing her upcoming C-section for the birth of her twins, her obstetrician-gynecologist suggested the procedure instead of the tubal ligation for family planning they were already considering. 

The 43-year-old mom of three in Port Coquitlam, B.C., says her doctor explained at the time that the procedure would "significantly decrease" any chances of ovarian cancer in the future. 

Opportunistic salpingectomy is the removal of the fallopian tubes in an average-risk woman who is done having children and is already undergoing a gynecological surgery, such as a C-section or surgery for endometriosis. The ovaries are left intact.

In a tubal ligation performed solely as a method of permanent birth control, the fallopian tubes are usually cut, clamped or sealed, but not removed.

"Considering I was already having the surgery and that she had mentioned that there would be literally only a 10-minute extra procedure, the recovery period would be exactly the same, that was really all I needed to hear that it would decrease my risk of [ovarian] cancer in the future," said Mazepa, a neurodiagnostic technologist, told White Coat, Black Art.

The procedure is considered to be one of the few ways to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, which doctors say can be difficult to detect. There is no effective screening test for the disease.

About one in 75 Canadian women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, according to Ovarian Cancer Canada.

Early research has shown that an opportunistic salpingectomy can help reduce the risk of ovarian cancer. 

"We now recognize that the majority of ovarian cancers are a specific subtype called high-grade serous carcinoma and the majority of these cancers actually arise in the fallopian tube, not the ovary," said Dr. Janice Kwon, a gynecologic oncologist with Vancouver General Hospital and BC Cancer, and vice-head of University of British Columbia's obstetrics and gynecology department.

Opportunistic salpingectomy has been done in Canada for more than a decade on women who are done having children and are already undergoing a gynecological surgery. 

B.C. has led the country in terms of the number of opportunistic salpingectomies perfomed.

Preliminary data analyzed by University of British Columbia obstetrics and gynecology associate professor Gillian Hanley and colleagues shows that uptake has grown since their previous look at data from all provinces except Quebec from 2011 to 2016. 

"It does look like rates are increasing in other provinces, which is great," Hanley told White Coat, Black Art. "But there is still definitely room for improvement."