Is the number of ovulations related to the incidence of ovarian cancer?

The pathogenesis of ovarian cancer is not yet fully understood, but the medical community generally believes that the number of ovulations is positively correlated with the risk of ovarian cancer, that is, the more times you ovulate, the higher the chance of ovarian cancer.

Each time ovulation occurs, the ovarian epithelium must break in order to release the egg. At this time, the cells on the surface of the ovary must grow rapidly in order to heal the ruptured wound, otherwise they are susceptible to carcinogens. In other words, more ovulations will lead to abnormal growth of ovarian cells and uninterrupted ovulation, thereby increasing the chance of carcinogens entering the cells. Therefore, the more times a woman ovulates in her lifetime, the higher the chance of ovarian cancer.

This means that women can reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by taking some actions that can block continuous ovulation, such as pregnancy, breastfeeding, and oral contraceptives. During pregnancy, the ovaries will not ovulate for about 9 months. This is because the progesterone secreted by the fertilized egg after pregnancy is the main hormone, which will inhibit the secretion of estrogen, so there will be no ovulation activity; and after childbirth, the secretion of progesterone usually continues until the end of breastfeeding, so most women will not ovulate during the breastfeeding period after giving birth, which can also allow the ovaries to rest for a few more months. The main ingredients of oral contraceptives are estrogen and progesterone, and their main mechanism is to inhibit ovulation of the ovaries, so they can also block the ovulation activity of the ovaries.