The findings indicate that having higher levels of PTSD, post traumatic stress symptoms, such as being easily startled by ordinary noises or avoiding reminders of the traumatic experience, can be associated with increased risks of ovarian cancer even decades after women experience a traumatic event. The study also found that the link between PTSD and ovarian cancer remained for the most aggressive forms of ovarian cancer. The findings were published in Cancer Research, on September 5, 2019.
"In light of these findings, we need to understand whether successful treatment of PTSD would reduce this risk, and whether other types of stress are also risk factors for ovarian cancer," said co-author Andrea Roberts, research scientist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecologic cancer and the fifth most common cause of cancer-related death among U.S.…
