UC Irvine

Background

There is suggestive evidence that inflammation is related to ovarian cancer survival. However, more research is needed to identify inflammation-related factors that are associated with ovarian cancer survival and to determine their combined effects.

Methods

This analysis used pooled data on 8,147 women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium. The prediagnosis inflammation-related exposures of interest included alcohol use; aspirin use; other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use; body mass index; environmental tobacco smoke exposure; history of pelvic inflammatory disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and endometriosis; menopausal hormone therapy use; physical inactivity; smoking status; and talc use. Using Cox proportional hazards models, the relationship between each exposure and survival was assessed in 50% of the data. A weighted inflammation-related risk score (IRRS) was developed, and its association with survival was assessed using Cox proportional hazards models in the remaining 50% of the data.

Results

There was a statistically significant trend of increasing risk of death per quartile of the IRRS [HR = 1.09; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03-1.14]. Women in the upper quartile of the IRRS had a 31% higher death rate compared with the lowest quartile (95% CI, 1.11-1.54).

Conclusions

A higher prediagnosis IRRS was associated with an increased mortality risk after an ovarian cancer diagnosis. Further investigation is warranted to evaluate whether postdiagnosis exposures are also associated with survival.

Impact

Given that pre- and postdiagnosis exposures are often correlated and many are modifiable, our study results can ultimately motivate the development of behavioral recommendations to enhance survival among patients with ovarian cancer.