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Tubal ligation and risk of ovarian cancer subtypes: a pooled analysis of case-control studies

Weiva Sieh et al. Int J Epidemiol. 2013 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Tubal ligation is a protective factor for ovarian cancer, but it is unknown whether this protection extends to all invasive histological subtypes or borderline tumors. We undertook an international collaborative study to examine the association between tubal ligation and ovarian cancer subtypes.

Methods: We pooled primary data from 13 population-based case-control studies, including 10,157 patients with ovarian cancer (7942 invasive; 2215 borderline) and 13,904 control women. Invasive cases were analysed by histological type, grade and stage, and borderline cases were analysed by histological type. Pooled odds ratios were estimated using conditional logistic regression to match on site, race/ethnicity and age categories, and to adjust for age, oral contraceptive use duration and number of full-term births.

Results: Tubal ligation was associated with significantly reduced risks of invasive serous (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.74-0.89; P < 0.001), endometrioid (OR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.40-0.59; P < 0.001), clear cell (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.40-0.67; P < 0.001) and mucinous (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.52-0.89; P = 0.005) cancers. The magnitude of risk reduction was significantly greater for invasive endometrioid (P < 0.0001) and clear cell (P = 0.0018) than for serous cancer. No significant associations were found with borderline serous or mucinous tumours.

Conclusions: We found that the protective effects of tubal ligation on ovarian cancer risk were subtype-specific. These findings provide insights into distinct aetiologies of ovarian cancer subtypes and mechanisms underlying the protective effects of tubal ligation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Risk of invasive ovarian cancer associated with tubal ligation, by study site and overall. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using conditional logistic regression, matched on sets determined by site, race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic White, Hispanic White, Black, Asian, other) and age (5-year categories), and adjusted for age (continuous), oral contraceptive use (none, <2, 2–4, 5–9, 10+ years), and number of full-term pregnancies (0, 1, 2, 3, 4+). The overall estimate was based upon analysis of the pooled data rather than meta-analysis of site-specific estimates. There was little heterogeneity among study sites (P = 0.38). The number (N) of cases and controls at each site who had a tubal ligation is denoted by nTL
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