North Texas

Removing Fallopian Tubes Could Help Prevent Cancer

A simple procedure could save millions of women from one of the deadliest cancers.

Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed in the late stages, but research shows a procedure to remove the fallopian tubes can prevent the most lethal form of ovarian cancer.

Fallopian tubes are the two thin tubes that connect the ovaries to the uterus.

Doctors said there isn't a good screening test for ovarian cancer, and it kills 14,000 women in the U.S. every year.

Dr. Darren Tate, an OB-GYN with Texas Health Southwest Fort Worth, recommends removal of the fallopian tubes – called a salpingectomy – to patients considering a hysterectomy.

"Leaving the tubes behind with no uterus has no logic to it. The have no function without a uterus to be connected to," Tate said.

He also recommends the cancer prevention method to women who consider tubal ligation or who have the BRCA1 gene.

"If all those patients had their tubes removed, they've estimated that it could cut down on ovarian cancer deaths by 40 percent," Tate said.

Ovarian cancers diagnosed in the late stages are more difficult to treat. But there are no routine screening tests to identify them early, Tate said, and risks to removing the fallopian tubes are minimal.

"Sixty percent of all ovarian cancers, the most deadly type, are from fingers of the tubes. It's advisable to take them out when we are removing the uterus itself," Tate said.

Sarah McClellan-Brandt, a patient of Tate's, said she'll consider the procedure if she opts for a tubal ligation after the birth of her second child.

"I had an ovarian cyst, and there's no official link but it still kind of scares me," McClellan-Brandt said. "If we do make that decision, this will be the way we go."

Tate said the procedure is for women finished bearing children, but if a patient is considering a tubal ligation with the possibility of a ligation reversal, he'd still recommend removing her fallopian tubes.

"If they want another baby later, in vitro is as cost-effective and more effective in producing another child for them, and they don't need their tubes to have in vitro," he said.

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