status higher socioeconomic linked to lower risk of ovarian cancer among African American women

status higher socioeconomic linked to lower risk of ovarian cancer among African American women -

status higher socioeconomic (SES) is associated with a lower risk of ovarian cancer among African-American women, according to results of a study conducted by researchers from the medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and elsewhere reported online 3 August via American Journal of Epidemiology . It showed that the risk of ovarian cancer was 29 percent lower among women with college degree or more compared to those who had a high school education or less. Similarly, the risk of ovarian cancer was 26 percent lower among women with a family income of $ 75,000 or more compared with household incomes of $ 10,000 or less. The study was led by Anthony J. Alberg, PhD, MPH, acting director of the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center and professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences.

The case-control study based on the population place in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas . The study participants, all self-identified as African American, included 513 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer and a control group of 721 women without cancer. The inverse association with SES was true even after controlling for factors known to be associated with risk of ovarian cancer, such as body mass index and family history of ovarian or breast cancer.

"In most types of cancer, people with lower SES are more at risk," said Alberg. "However, the reverse is true for breast cancer, another type of cancer linked hormone which shares many common risk factors with ovarian cancer. The evidence to date for ovarian cancer is limited and did not give clear results. This study represents an important step to help shed light on the relationship between SES and ovarian cancer, with results clearly showing in the direction of higher risk of disease among women of low SES -. the opposite of what we see for breast cancer "

None of the previous studies on this issue focuses on women of African descent. By establishing an association between low SES and risk higher disease among African American women, the study by Alberg raises questions about SES and risk of ovarian cancer in other populations who will respond in future studies. "Important next steps include whether that association is true for women of other races and ethnicities, "said Alberg. "Then we will need to identify the root causes of this relationship between socioeconomic status and ovarian cancer so that we can learn whether this may lead to new clues about prevention."