Doctors are urging women who are already having abdominal surgery and do not want children, or have finished having them, to consider having their fallopian tubes removed. The procedure, known as an opportunistic salpingectomy, takes less than five minutes and may reduce ovarian cancer risk by roughly 80 per cent, as evidence grows that many ovarian cancers begin in the tubes.

About 3,000 women in Canada are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year and 2,000 die, Dr. Elyse Lackie, an obstetrician-gynaecologist, told Global News. The disease is often detected at a late stage because it can have no observable symptoms and there are no accurate tests to identify it early, leaving patients with lower survival rates and fewer treatment options.

“Essentially you’re not gonna see it at all, you’re not going to feel it at all, until it’s really advanced and that’s often too late,” Lackie said. Symptoms can include constipation, bloating, feeling full soon after eating and back pain, but the cancer can be difficult to catch before it advances.

A University of British Columbia study published earlier this year found that removing the fallopian tubes while leaving the ovaries in place preserves important hormone production. The additional procedure has minimal side effects, according to the study. “This study clearly demonstrates that removing the fallopian tubes as an add-on during routine surgery can help prevent the most lethal type of ovarian cancer,” said co-senior author Dr. Gillian Hanley, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at UBC. “It shows how this relatively simple change in surgical practice can have a profound and life-saving impact.”

Shaheen Mawani had the operation last year while undergoing surgery to remove her uterus. She told Global News it was an “opportune thing” to do at the same time. “This seemed like a brainer for me,” she said.

Dr. Peter Stotland, chief of surgery at North York General Hospital, said the operation could mean “lives saved” and help patients avoid intensive chemotherapy, radiation and further surgical treatment. “We’ve really put a concerted effort into getting this out there,” he said, describing efforts to make people aware of an option that adds little time to abdominal procedures already underway.

Lackie called on the Canadian government to support the procedure through education and implementation. She described it as a “really simple” operation with small financial costs, saying prevention could save the health system “so much money” over the long term.

The approach was developed and named by Dr. Dianne Miller, a gynaecologic oncologist with BC Cancer and Vancouver Coastal Health and an associate professor emerita at UBC. “If there is one thing better than curing cancer, it’s never getting the cancer in the first place,” Miller said.

Ovarian cancer tends to occur in post-menopausal women, though anyone can be at risk, according to the Mayo Clinic. About 20 per cent of cases are caused by a genetic mutation that also affects a woman’s risk of breast cancer. The cancer often responds well to chemotherapy and radiation, but it also has a high recurrence rate.

Based on reporting by Global News.